April Showers
by Silverium
Summary: Three missions issued, and two go awry, are there enough SeeDs available to save the two teams? Squalphie.
1. Chapter 1

Introduction: (First Chapter is at the BOTTOM)

Title: April Showers

Author: Silverium

Disclaimer: Final Fantasy VII belongs to Square

The Following Characters belong to Silverium: Michelle and Kerei

So, here we are again with another Squalphie! It's been a LONG time since I've last written and honestly, I probably wouldn't have started this if I hadn't received an email from Cindy. Thanks again dear, that was really special for me, I don't usually receive fan mail so long after a story is finished!

I'm trying a slightly new approach with my characters, mainly with Selphie. She's still going to be my Ace-Engineer, for some reason I've always felt that would suit her, and her love for duckies will be everlasting to the end, I'm sure. I'm also throwing in a new pairing, that's right, this will NOT be a Squalphie/Seiftis, in fact, I'm not sure if Seifer will even make an appearance. Also, this fic will actually include Rinoa, usually I toss her out in the first few pages if I can, this time, she remains! And no complaining about that, I don't like her either, but we're all going to just DEAL.

Now, as I usually mention, I'm in university, and now I'm also thoroughly addicted to World of Warcraft (and yes, I'm already composing fanfiction for that too, lordy) so between raiding, Portuguese, and Human Sex and Sexuality, I'll be writing this. Luckily (or not, there is sarcasm since I really want a job) I'm unemployed, so that does give me a sliver's amount of time for writing.

Whew.

If you're unfamiliar and mildly interested, I do have two precious Squalphie/Seifer fanfics, I suggest reading them in the order of "When Did This Happen" and THEN read "Emerald Storms" just because Emerald Storms was written after and you can get a sense of my writing evolving a tiny bit.

And for those who just read all of this, now comes the actual first chapter.

Remember: REVIEW!

OoO

April Showers

It has been One Month, Thirteen Days and Four hours…

The pen scratched along the pale pink paper, a soft sound that somehow filled the room with a comfortable feeling. The pen was black, smooth ink pouring out under each flick of the fingers, the nib barely stained by the articulate notations that flowed over the page. With a sudden stop, and a deft flip of the hand, the journal was shut and tired green eyes slid over to the window.

It was April. It was raining. Again.

The pen moved hypnotically over to the calendar and slowly etched out a cloud on the ninth day. The cloud was the current last position of a long stream of clouds. Underneath the puffy outline were three little raindrops. An entire week of rain.

"And if I were Squall I bet I'd enjoy it." Selphie muttered, capping the pen and laying on her back, allowing her body to sink into the covers.

She tossed the journal on to her bedside table and let the pen rest on its cover as she stretched her arms behind her head as an extra pillow. Her ceiling was covered in posters of her favourite bands, namely _Playmates_, and the warm yellow walls banished the outside gloom enough to distract her from her thoughts.

"Mm… class, a student union meeting, a student society meeting, coffee with Quistis and then…and what then, nothing I guess," She slowly ticked off her list of things to do, "Clear out that old lounge and see if I can't reserve it, I hate having to fight with the Tacticians Union over our current lounge, they always try and put me into debate, the older one is smaller but there aren't many of us in the engineering union anyways. I think I promised Quisty that I'd do some marking with her. Oh and that essay is due soon! Darn it, I was hoping I'd have at least an hour to myself tonight!"

She sat up and stretched, swinging her legs over the yellow sunflower duvet and jumping to her feet. Yawning and stretching her arms up one more time the young SeeD grabbed her backpack (light blue, with a duck on the front pouch) and hefted it over her shoulder. Ever since…that… she had filled her schedule more than usual. Selphie found she had to keep herself busy in order to keep herself smiling.

Outside in the halls she marched jauntily past students and through the long corridors to where the engineering labs were situated. She could hear the cranking sounds of gears and levers being tinkered with, sheets of metal being hammered and more delicate wires being fused together as she drew closer to the large doors. As they slid open the students looked up curiously, some smiling, some offering her the same sympathetic looks they had for…

"One month, thirteen days and 4 and a half hours," Selphie mumbled, smiling back.

But her gloominess vanished once she got started on an old car she was working on with Nida. Nida, one of her most trusted friends, kept telling her jokes and funny stories to keep her amused all through the class and straight through the student union meeting.

OoO

"So how was the student society meeting?" Quistis Trepe rested her startlingly blue eyes on Selphie as she sipped her tea,

"Long, we're going to host a big fiesta of sorts, a bit of a student mixer you know, just to release the tension of the upcoming exams. I know a lot of people will want to study but we all need one night to just let it out. I'm going to ask the teachers to be light on the homework for that night if they can," Selphie replied, jotting down a few notes in her notebook,

"And how many committees did you sign yourself up for this time?" Quistis asked with a fond smile,

"Only one this time! Well, one and a half I guess," Selphie grinned, "Recruiting and an afternoon of setting up, thank Hyne I didn't offer to clean up like I did last time!"

Quistis laughed softly and nodded, "Yes, I remember we didn't see you for an entire day! I'll make an overhead for my class and advertise for you. First year Cadets love to do those sorts of things, their sense of responsibility isn't always there yet,"

"Definitely, thanks so much Quisty! All I did was party in my first year at Trabia," Selphie smiled at the memories and beamed at her friend.

That Quistis would do half her job for her lightened the burden on Selphie's shoulders and the little brunette could hardly express how delighted she was. Recruitment could be a long and agonizing task but having friends that were instructors made the process so much easier! They chatted together for another hour before a silhouette fell across their table from the distant windows. Both turned simultaneously and watched Squall Leonhart slouch across the room, his mouth in a tight line and his eyes distant and hard.

"Is he doing any better?" Selphie asked softly,

"Not really." Quistis sighed, "Rinoa picked a lovely time to dump him didn't she? I suppose that's a little uncharitable, their relationship was rocky from the beginning but, oh I don't know, running off with Seifer and having that scandalous fling with Irv--"

Quistis stopped and turned faintly pink but Selphie waved her hand and shrugged.

_One month, thirteen days…._

"Don't worry Quisty, it was awhile ago, and he's moved on, and so have I," Selphie fought past the lump in her throat,

Quistis still looked distressed but she picked up on the silent cue to change the conversation, "So…I hear Zell has himself a prodigy down in the martial arts department. Apparently she's learning so fast he can barely keep up with her,"

"I heard!" Selphie beamed again, her happiness restored, "I think he said her name was Kerei, she's pretty ambitious,"

"I think there are some…ah…ulterior motives there too," Quistis gave Selphie a wicked grin,

"Oh, you mean, she…no, she does? Really?" Selphie's eyes widened,

"I heard her talking about him outside the instructor's lounge, her voice became ever so dreamy," Quistis giggled behind her hand in a most unlike-Quistis manner.

Both of them collapsed into laughter. Selphie was truly pleased though, by the news. Zell had lost his conquest for the pigtails girl and had become more and more shy about the prospect of meeting women.

"Well I'm happy for him," Selphie declared,

"So am I," Quistis agreed, "I wish Squall would cheer up too, though,"

Selphie shrugged, "He wasn't very cheerful to begin with."

Quistis nodded unhappily, thinking to herself that Selphie didn't understand. No one really understood Squall anymore, but Selphie had never quite warmed up to him like Quistis had. The two of them excused themselves after arranging another 'date' of sorts, with Quistis returning to her classroom for her office hours and Selphie returning to her dorm for the dreaded essay-writing.

She could barely concentrate on the paper, her fingers wrote it numbly with her mind partitioned, half on the task, half anywhere but. During the writing she mused over memories, wondering what Irvine was doing, who he was with, why she hadn't been good enough…

Her forehead hit the desk and she cried softly into her arms.

OoO

"Morning!" Selphie slid into her chair in the cafeteria and waved energetically at her friends,

Zell smiled, yawned, and blinked owlishly, making Selphie giggle, Quistis raised her coffee mug in salute and returned her gaze to the papers spread over her side of the table, clucking her tongue at some bad marks her students' had received. Rinoa smiled warily, she treated Selphie like glass even though her brief time with Irvine was over, Selphie returned the smile more exuberantly, quietly snarling in her mind.

'_Stop looking like I'm about to claw your eyes out, Hyne.'_ She thought savagely.

Breakfast was quick for Selphie, she had training hours first, with Zell and the pigtails girl, then more engineering, and finally, a briefing for a small mission. The mission would be the highlight of the day, she figured, it was a chance to get out of the school and be a change of pace, even if for only a little while.

She walked to the training area with Zell, both of them separating briefly to enter through their own locker rooms. Selphie stripped down into a black one-piece suit that was sleeveless and form-fitting. It ended mid-thigh and kept her body cool while she exercised inside the humid grounds with Zell. During the middle of the practice both of them looked up at hearing two giggling voices. Pigtails and a short stocky woman were emerging from the women's locker room.

"Kerei!" Zell grinned genially, waving the shorter girl over and being rewarded with an ear-to-ear grin,

"Zell!"

Kerei bounced over, her aqua eyes blinking through the spikes of black hair that fell over her face until she tossed her head and flicked them to the side. Selphie smiled and shook her hand during the introduction and then looked up when Pigtails arrived somewhat shyly and looked beseechingly at Kerei.

"This is my friend Michelle," Kerei said bluntly, "She's a throwing specialist,"

"Oh, throwing?" Selphie inquired, watching Zell blush and look away,

"Yeah, daggers mostly, sometimes axes," Michelle shrugged her lanky shoulders and looked awkwardly away,

"Wow, that's really cool!" Selphie grinned and then tugged at Zell's arm, "I'm ready for something bigger, you wanna move on to those dinos over there?"

"Yeah, sure, make sure you're fighting in your new defensive stance as well as offensive, Kerei," Zell beamed at his model student who saluted smartly and preened under his praising eyes.

Selphie hid her smile as they walked away, so, Zell might be a little interested in his student. That, of course, had potential to be disastrous, and it was such a pity her friend was the girl who already shot him down!

OoO

"So, what's going down?" Irvine slid himself on to a leather couch and threw an arm around Quistis Trepe's shoulders,

"See for yourself, Cowboy." Quistis tossed him his folder and passed the others out to the small group of SeeDs.

"Hm, organizing a treaty with the biomechanical lab way out in the South? Seems wise, any weaponry that comes out of that place would be useful to have on our side," Irvine mused,

"Your team mates are Michelle and myself," Quistis supplied, nodding at Michelle as she sat down opposite of them on the table, smiling shyly.

Selphie reached forward and slid her folder towards her along the glass tabletop. Slitting the top she reached in and browsed the papers before raising her eyebrows,

"Mushroom hunting?" Selphie looked up at Quistis, utterly perplexed,

"The two missions go hand in hand really, with a biomechanical lab they want all the data possible on plant material, anything organic really but we'll start small. They haven't really explored the area to the West because that's getting pretty close to Galbadia Garden, however, since WE are finally on good terms with them we can do our own business without rousing suspicion. Your team mates are Nida and Squall."

Selphie nodded, disappointed she was going to be stuck with the Dark Cloud otherwise known as Squall but buoyed up by the fact that Nida was coming.

"That leaves Zell, Kerei and Rinoa, for a peacekeeping mission up north of Trabia, a band of rebels have been trying to steal precious materials from the ruins of Trabia Garden," Quistis' eyes flicked to Selphie, a silent apology for not being able to get the former-student to her old hometown.

Selphie didn't mind though, her friends had all moved away from their old school, when she next saw it, Selphie hoped Trabia would be restored, but for now Balamb was her true home.

"Sounds good," Zell grinned, reading 'peacekeeping' as 'beat anyone you see carrying off something they shouldn't'.

"We will depart in two days and be gone…well, that depends on how things go. I suspect my group will be back earliest, and depending on how the situation with the rebels are you may have to request backup. Trabia has other issues right now and their military is busy with reconstruction of the perimeter. You'll have a few soldiers at your control but I'm expecting you to use tactics and your own common sense to see you through this one," Quistis said evenly, dismissing them all.

'Well, at least it gets me off this island,' Selphie thought as she slid out of her seat, 'but I can't imagine how entertaining it's going to be looking at plants.'

As she walked out of the room she caught Irvine watching her pensively, her eyes turned opaque and she turned away, striding down the hall ignoring his heavy eyes.


	2. Chapter 2

AS2

Selphie hefted a crate up on to her knee while her hands sought better purchase. Their day of packing had passed in an uneventful blur and this morning it was time to load everything into the Ragnarok and lift off. The crates were full of vials and sampling materials that her team would use to dissect plants and test them with chemicals to see their various properties before bringing them back to Balamb. Sliding it across the cargo bay until it rested with the others, Selphie turned and watched Squall and Nida pack up their backpacks and toss them in beside her.

"I still wish we could take the Rag," Selphie said mournfully, "It's going to be a pain to unload all these supplies again,"

"It would bring more attention to us that we don't want," Squall replied with a careless shrug, "Besides, the cadets might need the ship for emergency missions."

Unable to escape the logic, Selphie nodded grimly and busied herself with the camp supplies that had yet to be loaded. Across the hanger bay, Zell's trio was stacking up the weapons and shielding devices they were going to take, as well as building supplies to aid in Trabia's reconstruction while juniors rushed back and forth carting what they wanted into the Ragnarok. Irvine's team was already in the ship, having only their luggage to bring with them as well as treaty documents that no doubt Quistis had already organized.

When all the gear was loaded they had just enough time for one last full meal, something Selphie and Zell's teams were surely going to splurge on.

"Who knows when we're going to have hotdogs again," Zell said, his voice full of longing,

"We can take some with us, it's easy enough to make them over a fire," Kerei soothed.

Zell glowed at her, making Quistis and Selphie smother giggles behind their hands once more. Selphie went to reserve them a table while everyone lined up, and as they trickled back with trays layered in food she bounced to the line, eyeing in particular the fresh slices of watermelon.

"Ah, Selphie?"

An inward cringe, "Yes Irvine?"

"Ah, well, we might not see each other for awhile…" The lanky cowboy looked beseechingly at her,

"We haven't been seeing much of each other in general, Irvine," Selphie stated, "Personally I think this distance is good,"

Irvine's shoulders slumped, "Selphie, please, I'm a jerk, I know it, but you're my closest friend and--"

"Yeah, you are," Selphie glared, annoyed that he would bring this up _now_, "I need some time Irvine, and this mission might just give it to me,"

"Time? Selphie, it's been over a month!"

"A month and a half," Selphie declared, "And that's not nearly as long as I'd like."

Irvine was about to splutter something but she pushed on, "I'm afraid you didn't notice that I actually cared for you Kinneas, and a month isn't long enough to properly get over someone!"

He seemed to give up, his head tilted forward, hat obscuring his eyes, before he rolled his shoulders back and shook his head, "All right, all right. I get it, I'll…I'll just leave you be."

He seemed about to go but paused one more time, making Selphie flinch, "I really didn't want it to end like this," he said thickly,

She sighed, "And it won't, but I'm hurt, and I'm upset, and I don't want to deal with this right now. We'll be friends, I know it, but jeeze, give me some real time."

Her words seemed to be a brilliant ray of sunshine for the sniper, as he straightened completely and some life returned to the indigo eyes. It made her heart ache to see him so happy but she gave him a tired smile and returned to ordering her food. Why did break-ups have to be so hard? Why had he nearly cheated on her, and was it any better that he had broken up with her and ran for Rinoa that very evening? She forced the thoughts out and returned to the table with her food. Nida was being quiet and shy; Squall was glowering at his food. The mission, no doubt, would be a long one.

OoO

The first stop was Trabia, where the SeeDs collected to help Zell, Kerei and Rinoa unload their gear and get set up along the perimeter of Trabia. Kerei and Michelle exchanged farewells, hugging and promising to write each other every day while Zell watched enviously and did most of the unloading himself. Selphie gave him a tight hug, knowing that she'd miss his energy and wicked sense of humour.

"Don't get eaten by any plants, Sefie," He told her seriously, berry-blue eyes twinkling,

"I'll try not to," She replied solemnly, breaking into a grin afterwards.

When the Ragnarok departed Selphie sat with Quistis, neither speaking much but in a comfortable silence. Irvine was asleep, his head pillowed on his arms, and Michelle was gazing out the window in quiet fascination.

"Is this your first mission?" Selphie asked curiously,

Michelle turned, she had luminous grey eyes that, although quiet, always looked friendly, "Pretty much, I did some border patrols once, but this is my first _real_ mission," her hair was still in pigtails, the hair itself was dyed maroon and even up it still fell half way down her back, and her fingers kept twirling one in a quiet display of nervousness.

"You'll be fine, everything works out with Quistis on the team!" Selphie grinned.

Quistis smiled and looked at her paperwork, blushing faintly at the praise.

The second stop was the Biomechanics Lab, where Selphie hugged Quistis tightly and waved to Irvine and Michelle. Nida seemed sad to see Quistis go, but Selphie wondered quietly if he was also jealous that Quistis had the diplomacy mission, and not he.

"Good luck," was all Squall had to say, and Selphie rolled her eyes at his comment.

They were the last to be dropped off, it was Xu who would fly the Ragnarok home, and by then Selphie was tired of having to stay pent up in the airship. It would be nightfall by the time they reached their site, far west from the old Galbadian Missile Complex. When they touched down at long last, Selphie eased her tired muscles out of their cramped sitting position and strode down to the cargo bay.

Squall was waiting with a crate tucked under his arm, he nodded in greeting and waited for the doors to open, allowing him to escape the stuffy confines of the ship. They walked out on to the short grass, looking out at a rising forest with hills and boulders dispersed amidst it, their soon-to-be mission sight, and dispensed their supplies.

"We should set up camp, outside or inside the forest?" Selphie asked, peering into the inky depths,

"Well, we don't want to camp in unfamiliar territory but I think it would be worse to call attention to our base, so let's find a spot in those trees, just far enough in to hide us," Nida suggested,

"Take the supplies, I don't want anyone to snatch these while we're gone," Squall ordered, loading up with as much as he could carry.

Selphie and Nida did the same, all three of them staggering under the weight and stumbling towards the forest.

Once inside the dark protection of the trees, they threw the majority of the gear in a pile and covered it in debris. Squall attached a signal clip to the crates, and one on each of the party members before nodding to them. They split up, radios on and signal detectors ready, to find a clearing large enough for their tent in a relatively sheltered area.

Selphie pushed heavy fronds out of her way and squinted into the darkness. She had a torch with her but as long as there was a pale light available she wasn't going to use it. Her boots made soft padding noises on the ground instead of the crunch of twigs that she had expected, startling her. When she knelt down and pressed her hands against the ground she realized it was covered in a thick layer of moss. Surprised, but not in the least wary, Selphie trod on, coming up to a circle of boulders that were half buried into the hill they had at some point fallen from.

The ground became harder, littered with pebbles now from what must have been an ancient rockslide. Selphie clambered over one of the boulders and slid ungracefully to the other side, realizing that in the time she had been gone it had become well and truly dark. She fumbled for her torch and lit it, blinking against the sharp flare of light. The boulders created a gentle semi-circle stretching out from the hill as if someone had hollowed away at the centre of the landslide to free something.

"It's a perfect fence," Selphie blinked in surprise, "We can just put our tent up against the hillside and have the rocks border the two other sides of our tent, that leaves only one way to enter but I bet we could make a hasty retreat up the hillside if we cut through the tent. That fits any emergency I think."

The hill itself stretched up into the trees, its surface was dense and rocky, with hard lumps that jut out and created corners and hollows. Selphie ran her fingers down the surface, feeling moss and lichen, a sure sign that the formation had been here awhile. She picked up her radio and pressed the communication button,

"Selphie to Squall, Selphie to Squall,"

"Squall here," came the far away voice of her Commander,

"I've found a good site, a clearing, bordered on three sides by rock," she announced,

"That's better than anything Nida or I found," Squall replied, sounding vaguely pleased, "we'll find you by signal and bring the supplies with us."

Cheered by the fact that she wouldn't have to go and cart the heavy crates again, Selphie sat down in her clearing and waited patiently for the two SeeDs to reach her. They did shortly, both out of breath but looking pleased at the sight of her find.

"Good job, Selphie," Squall commented, tossing her the tent bag.

Selphie smiled and caught it, "Think we should pitch it closer to this boul-whoa-der!"

Her ankle twisted as a rock beneath her rolled away from the weight of her boot, causing her to lose balance and squeak in dismay. Nida lunged for her but Selphie tripped into the hill, her left arm scraping down the side while her right clung to the bulky tent and tried to maintain her grip on her torch.

"Yeek! I'm okay!" Selphie yelped breathlessly.

She teetered and held the side of the hill, trying to adjust to the weight of the tent. With another step though her ankle sent a fiery pain lancing up her leg, making her drop her torch and fall heavily into…nothing?!

"Kyagh!"

"Selphie!"

Nida and Squall stared in amazement as Selphie took a step along the side of the hill and suddenly fell backwards into a black nothingness. The torch rolled across the ground to them, flickering wildly and making the hillside be engulfed in darkness. There was a dense sound of a body impacting into the ground, a low moan from their companion, and then a strange whisking sound.

"Selphie? Selphie!" Squall darted forward, grabbing the torch and thrusting it forward.

The wall Selphie had been holding on to dropped back where she had fallen, exposing the crevice-mouth of a cave. Nida picked his way over to Squall and peered inside, his eyes wide,

"Selphie?" He called,

"…Here!" Came a faint reply, "Be careful, it slopes down!"

Squall sighed and ran a hand through his hair. He poked the torch inside and climbed in, immediately withdrawing his foot with a look of surprise and mild disgust.

"Squall?" Nida asked curiously,

"The ground isn't hard," Squall muttered, setting in once more.

The Commander reached inside and grimaced as his hand encountered slimy vegetation lining the walls of the cave. It covered everything in a wet carpet, making his feet sink down and a strange sickly sweet odour in the air. Nida entered behind him, choking in disgust and making a similar expression to the one Squall had.

"How does it grow in here? I thought caves were usually barren!"

"I'm not sure," Squall replied, holding the torch out in front of him and watching as the ground slowly slipped away deeper downwards.

The descent was treacherous, both of the men having to reach into the slimy plants and try to hold on to the rock beneath them in order to keep balance. They found Selphie about twelve feet in, sitting on the tent bag and looking miserable. Her clothing was covered in sticky plant matter, it clung to her hair and skin and her ankle, out of its boot, was already swelling.

Nida and Squall both sighed in unison and knelt down to help her bandage her leg and wipe what she could of the residue off her body.

"On the bright side," Nida said earnestly, "this does make the perfect plantation to study for that biomechanics lab,"

"It does," Squall said, looking surprised and then grateful, "good job again, Selphie,"

Selphie looked up at him woefully, "I hope my next discovery isn't so messy."

Back on her feet, though with very little weight on her ankle, Selphie looked around the plateau of ground she had landed on. Squall held the torch out and illuminating the walls, causing tiny sparkles to form on the droplets of moisture along the walls.

"Hey, what's…that?" Nida pointed,

Another crevice in the wall, this one thinner and taller than the entrance to the cave, opened up to a cavern deeper in. Squall edged in sideways, scowling as the slime wiped off on his jacket and then exclaiming as he reached the other side.

"Get in here!"

OoO

Author's Corner:

Righto. The new fic, I forgot to mention one other big difference between this fic and the previous two. Usually I pre-write about 80 pages of story, making the first chunk of the fic easy to update and keep writing while I'm doing so. Not so much with this one, in truth, I really haven't given a lot of thought to the plot and whatnot. Now, before any of you lose faith, I _never_ pre-plan a plot. I sit, and I write, and it evolves as I go. I basically think, "I want this pairing, and this pairing, and something to do with this." And go from there.

Seems like there is now a 'reply url' for reviews so I won't be doing a lot of public-replying, only for anonymous reviews, though, please, don't give me anonymous reviews! I like knowing who you people are. Speaking of which, SO glad some of my old readers found me. I might slip a little announcement on Emerald Storms later on for those who still have it on their alerts.


	3. Chapter 3

AS3

OoO

Quistis strode down the narrow metal-plated hallways with an expressionless mask set over her face. They were dressed in their best and being escorted to where they would stay, 'hospitality' rooms inside the complex, and Quistis was tired from all the flying they had done. She doubted the rooms would be as plush as the ones they were treated to so often in Esthar, but right now anything with a bed or Quistis-sized flat pallet would be very welcome.

"So sorry for the cold atmosphere," Their escort said apologetically, "we keep it this way to maintain a dormant state in our growing plant life,"

"No, not at all," Quistis murmured, "After being cooped up in the airship the air in here is refreshing."

Michelle, walking beside Irvine, gave the tall cowboy a look and indicated with her chin the Goosebumps running along Quistis' neck. Irvine's lips tightened against the grin that threatened to appear and he winked at Michelle when the escort turned his head. Irvine felt as tired as Quistis but more than that, he felt restless. A treaty mission involved standing for long periods of time, and sitting at tables for long periods of time. Diplomatic arguing and debates would take up their hours and at night they would give vent to frustrations about not getting what they were promised and promising things they didn't want to give. He had joined Balamb for the same reason as Squall—the military. Fighting was what he was good at, and it was what he wanted to do. Now Squall was picking fungi and he was signing papers.

'Zell must be counting his lucky stars,' Irvine thought, 'Fighting and with his top student who adores him.'

"Right down this way," The escort piped up, turning a sharp left in the maze of corridors,

"Is there a method of organizing the route through these halls?" Quistis asked, looking somewhat concerned, "I haven't seen a marking system yet, and I'd hate to get lost on the way to an important meeting…"

'Subtle,' Irvine thought, 'She's worried that if we have to run we won't be able to do it swiftly,'

"No, it's largely based no the acolytes memorization as they begin training here," The escort replied, "we will send someone for you for every meeting and I daresay you'll realize it's not entirely as confusing as it seems,"

"Wonderful," Quistis smiled.

The escort smiled back, he was a very average man, brown hair and eyes, tanned complexion, a 'middle' face of little distinction. He turned away from them, and then paused in front of a hallway that had doors leading all the way down its length.

"We keep the acolytes in this hallway, professors and scientists are down another, your hallway will be right down this one, and to the left."

They followed him to a series of doors that he unlocked and handed over their keys. Quistis had already been provided with the terms of the treaty and the hours of the future meetings so they were left to talk over them with another set of keys to a meeting room nearby. The escort bowed and left and the three SeeDs went to investigate their rooms.

Quistis opened her door and cocked her head slightly. No windows, a decent-enough looking bed, desk, a small fridge and sink and a chair. It was basically a dorm room. Shrugging slightly and dropping her bag on to the bed she flicked on the lamp and grimaced at the cold metal walls.

"Not very…ah…warm, are they," Michelle said, peeking into Quistis' door,

"No, but this isn't a facility that accepts many quests," Quistis reminded her, beckoning the girl in, "At least they've given us a kettle, would you like some tea? You'll have to grab the cup from your own room,"

"Sure! I'll knock on Irvine's door and get him in here," Michelle offered, smiling.

The three SeeDs squished on to Quistis' bed and briefly looked over the treaty. They'd have a tour and another free day before the debates began and no one felt like launching into it immediately.

"It's the immunity that we really need to push for, I want all the cures to everything they concoct in here," Quistis said firmly,

"Agreed, this may be so that we don't have to watch our backs but plenty of peace treaties have been broken," Irvine replied darkly.

"And this is a new company, they don't have loyalties to anyone yet, we don't even know what they DO, only that they're producing organic weaponry that could be useful for our military," Michelle added,

"Right, so we want to make sure they're on our side," Quistis finished, "I hope this treaty doesn't take forever, I'm not very adept at diplomacy,"

"Nah, you're a perfect match for it," Irvine smiled, "you're so organized and efficient, Quistis,"

"I'm majoring in diplomacy," Michelle smiled, "so this is a test for me to see how much I've learnt,"

"Well, I'm certainly glad they put you in our team." Quistis said eloquently.

The three broke off their chatter of treaties and subsided to Balamb gossip. Michelle sat at the end of Quistis' bed, feeling awkward about being in a team of two close friends. Not just that, these were THE SeeDs, and they were famous, and rich, she couldn't forget that. Rich, famous, SeeDs. How terribly she missed Kerei!

OoO

"This. Sucks." Zell snarled and threw a piece of shrapnel over a hastily-reconstructed fence,

Kerei shot him a look of agreement and kicked pieces of rubble out of her way. They had arrived, only to find the rebels had subsided and the only thing that kept the SeeDs warm was cleaning up bits of Trabia garden while they waited for the next attack.

"I was expecting something more…lively," Kerei mentioned, glancing at their fortified camp hidden carefully behind snowdrifts and well-armed,

"Like being thrown into the heat of the battle, crushing the foes and returning home victorious?" Zell asked, squinting against the glare of snow at the empty plains ahead of them,

"Pretty much." Kerei sighed, "I guess I should be thankful for it though,"

"You should," Zell agreed grudgingly, "if the world didn't need soldiers it'd be a better place, it's always better to settle things through diplomacy and verbal communication,"

Kerei turned her pale eyes on him with surprise, "I didn't think I'd ever hear you say that,"

He blushed and looked away, "Well, ah, Quisty, you know, she drills that stuff into my head,"

"Yeah, she's great," Kerei murmured, smiling shyly at him.

Zell turned scarlet and suddenly became interested in stacking pieces of brick and metal in a heap and turned his back from Kerei. It was unbelievable that his student had so much in common with him. It was more unbelievable that he was paired up with her on her first serious mission off of Balamb territory. He wondered dimly if Cid was trying to give her more time to adjust, here with him he could instruct her further on her special talents. He could protect her in a way…

"Heads!"

Kerei turned at Rinoa's apologetic shriek and swiftly pivoted, drawing her left leg up in a wicked arc and smashing a piece of rubble clean out of the air and far away.

…Not likely in need of protecting after all. Zell sighed.

OoO

The fire crackled cheerfully between the three SeeDs as they ate their dinner in their camp. Zell watched the flickering flames, mesmerized by them, his mind deep in thought about further fortifications, the next morning's project helping Trabian mechanics move anything salvageable into shelter. Across the fire from him was Rinoa, also gazing into the coals, the orange glow reflected in her dark eyes. Her thoughts ran in little circles of confusion, pondering the everlasting question of "_what do I want?"_, but she hadn't figured it out yet. SeeD made a difference in the world, they were mercenary soldiers that helped people get things done, undertaking dangerous missions and saving people's lives, or knocking them off…

…But mercenaries were paid. They wouldn't always be helping 'the good guy', sometimes you couldn't tell who 'the good guy' was! Rinoa's sense of moral responsibility shuddered under this conflict, lost in the vast technicalities of what she was doing. Part of her screamed, run back to the shelter of her hometown, run away from the violence and be the diplomatic rebel she had used to be. But something still held her to Garden, something she was no longer sure of.

Squall?

She had thought she loved him. Maybe she had for some fleeting moment. He was certainly handsome enough, and in her arms he had been brought to life. But then why had she left him for the lanky cowboy? And not even that had lasted more than a few days. No, Rinoa was sure that she _didn't_ know what she wanted anymore. Squall had been so passionate about his work, it both drew her to him and repelled her how immersed he became, forgetting everything and everyone around him. Irvine was more socially adept, making time for her, cherishing her, but then, Irvine did that for every girl.

Especially Selphie.

Guilt flushed Rinoa's cheeks. Selphie hadn't deserved the abrupt break up and hearing about the near-affair so soon afterwards. The cheerful SeeD had closed herself away for a few days before emerging with a patently false smile and sparkling green eyes that darkened with suppressed emotions any time she saw Rinoa or Irvine. Rinoa stepped carefully around the brunette now, which only seemed to further irritate her, and somehow, the raven-haired woman knew that their friendship would never be restored.

Ever so lost in her thoughts, Rinoa completely missed it when Zell and Kerei both tensed and shot to crouched feet. She stared stupidly at them before she heard the soft padding footfalls drawing closer to their camp. Sharing an alarmed look with them she reached for Shooting Star and held the weapon in a white-knuckled grip as she slid it on to her forearm.

Kerei's aqua eyes were glittering with both excitement and fear-induced adrenaline but the berry-blues of Zell had been turned to a deadly calm. He slid his body silently to the side of the shelter and peered out into the darkness, studying the dull silver of the night-cloaked snow and waiting for shadows to reveal the entity's presence. He was rewarded scant minutes later when a very, very subtle movement drew his eye diagonally across the plain of snow to the side of the camp Rinoa was holding. He made some brief motions at her, letting her know it was her side that was being approached, and then quietly eased himself out.

Rinoa's lips compressed to a straight line and she nodded, moving swiftly to the last bricks of the barricade on her side and waiting with a pounding heart. Kerei was stealthily moving towards her, quiet backup in the form of a small compact woman, and slipping on some studded gloves.

Holding the tail end of her blue overcoat, Rinoa let it hang out the side of the camp, flutter gently there, and then be snatched back in. That would let the attacker know where she was, drawing his attention to her and not Zell who would be making his way around to pin the person between them.

A sharp hissing noise made both Rinoa and Kerei snap their heads up in shock. A burning flare dropped straight into their camp, illuminating their shadows on the snow and triggering open fire from the shadows behind their barricade. Rinoa dove for the wall, pressing her back against it and tossing handfuls of snow on top of the flare to plunge them back into darkness. Before the light went out and caused spots of light to dance on their vision, Kerei saw a shadow make the leap for the inside of their camp and hurriedly she propelled her body to meet it.

Zell swore softly as he saw four men break cover and shoot the flare. He targeted the man at the end and smashed into him, jerking him across the convex barrier wall and out of sight of his comrades. The man did not come easily though, he thrashed and pulled out a fist dagger, stabbing hatefully at Zell as the SeeD twisted and turned to keep out of the blade's flight. Fingers grasped cruelly on Zell's arms, digging through the padding of his uniform and cold-weather clothes and bruising the flesh underneath. Zell swore again and elbowed the man to the head, smashing his heel down on the rebel's kneecap and then rolling them both in the snow until Zell managed to stay on top. Three sharp hits to the temple ensured the rebel would not be rising for awhile. As he bounced to his feet, Zell hoped Kerei and Rinoa were handling themselves well. Shouts and gunfire had broken out while he had been fighting.

"Bastard! Let go!" Rinoa kicked, fought and bit at the hands trying to pull her out of the camp.

A man had tumbled in front of her from overhead and landed nearly in her lap, his arms snaking around her waist and lurching her step by agonizing step out into the open. Rinoa's Shooting Star was a bulky weight on her arm, the ranged weapon being of little use in her close battle and in truth, being a hindrance since it limited her arm use.

She could see outside the shelter that Kerei was dealing with two men. The freshly made SeeD was a blur of limbs but she was tiring, and the men outweighed her and were using it to their advantage. Hissing and kneeing her captor in the ribs enough that she could get her right arm out of the tangle she aimed briefly and launched the Star straight at Kerei's back.

One of the men who had been trying to force Kerei to the ground looked over his shoulder with sixth sense, but too late. The pinwheel's razor edges spun across his neck, nearly severing it from his head, before whirling back to Rinoa who squeaked and ducked, burying into the chest of her opponent only to hear the sickening wet crunch as Shooting star embedded in his spinal cord.

Zell bounded over to them seconds later. Kerei had dispatched her foe cleanly with a kick to the nose, sharding the bones up into his face and them firmly implanting them with a dizzying punch. She sagged on to the ground until Zell knelt at her side and simply picked her up as if she were a feather.

After neatly setting her down on one of their sleeping rolls he helped extract Rinoa from the dead man's grip and, beckoning her to look away, pulled her weapon out of his body that made such a horrendous sound that Kerei crawled back out into the snow to be sick.

Dazed and tired, the SeeDs rebuilt their fire and drank bottles of water, checking their wounds and remaking their camp. It was only a few hours until dawn, Zell didn't think the men would be back, not when three of them very dead and one likely to die of exposure. Rinoa blew a strand of hair out of her eyes and blinked owlishly at him, murmuring soft thanks and rolling on to her sleeping bag, staring back into the flames with exhausted eyes.

Kerei spat out a mouthful of water and bit into a piece of spiced bread to rid herself of the taste. She felt sick and tired to the depths of her bones, marks on her body ached from the beating she had endured and suddenly she wanted to return to Garden and crawl into her bed. Zell scooted over and draped a blanket on her shoulders and gave her a gentle backrub to ease some of those already-stiffening muscles.

"I know you won't think it, but you'll get used to it," He said with confidence, "and as a tip, if you're ever partying with Squall, I know you'd NEVER think this, but the man knows how to massage tired muscles. He takes some coaxing but if you ask professionally he'll give you such a good massage you'll be feeling right and ready the next day."

Kerei laughed with a touch of hysteria, "Squall is far too intimidating to ask for a massage!"

"I know, he's grumpy and scary, for now I'll do my best and then you need to get sleep," Zell gave her a sympathetic smile and worked his fingers over her back, noting every wince she made and concentrating on those areas.

When he finished Kerei was dull and lifeless with fatigue. He helped her to her bed and covered her up then crawled to Rinoa and noticed she had dropped into sleep without getting into her roll. Laughing quietly he snuggled her in and then looked at his two charges affectionately.

Well, maybe he had some protecting to do after all.

OoO

Oh man…two midterms, both in Portuguese, first the written and then the oral. I am one tired lass I can tell you guys that. Sorry about taking so long but I was going over verbs and planning scripts.


	4. Chapter 4

AS4

Squall knelt down on the hard rock floor. His chest tightened painfully and his slate eyes widened. Behind him he heard the sharp gasps of Selphie and Nida. The air was scented, sweet, so sweet it became euphoric. He watched in a daze as Selphie stepped through the crevice, one leg at a time, her eyes shining in wonder, luminous emerald orbs taking in their surroundings. Nida was right after her, his hand steadying her, cupped around her waist, his lips parted as he broke away, the three of them each in their own world, their own stance, no longer touching but somehow joined as one.

He had never felt so complete, Squall thought dimly. He had never lived, never dreamt, before this. His lungs became choked, spots flared in his eye sight and he felt weak, weak with…

"Rapture…" Selphie whispered, her soft voice rippled across the cavern and floated back to her, the gentle sounds making her knees wobble until she knelt in shock.

Rapture. The very word came only close, yet somehow skimmed the surface enough that the two men nodded. Selphie pressed her palm to the cold surface. She felt like she was dying, but she felt like she was ascending. The sickly sweet perfume dizzied her senses, blurring them. She saw both Squall and Nida on the ground beside her, none of them able to rise up, all three knocked down by the incredible sense of awe that had washed over them.

"We need…we need to get a better look," Squall whispered hoarsely,

The very thought made her head spin. Selphie crawled forward, swaying, they were kneeling on a ledge that dropped into…into….

"Rapture," she whispered, again, uncertainly, "Can we?"

Nida's eyes glowed with determination, "Yes!"

His strengthening words boosted Selphie's ambition and she nodded fiercely. Hand over hand she pulled herself to the edge of the ledge and closed her eyes before looking downwards. She felt Nida and Squall on either side of her, all of them tense; all of them experience an unusual high.

Her eyes opened. The world flooded inside.

Squall gasped, Nida cried out and clenched his teeth, and Selphie licked her lips in anticipation.

Green-blue light, phosphorescent, lit up the cavern that unfolded around them. Vines with leafy limbs dripped down the blue walls, nymph's hair, entwining around each other, blossoming with vibrant pinks and oranges. Water trickled down the sides, green, glowing with gold highlights of some unknown source of light. But it was the crystals…

Thousands of them, studding the walls, suspended from the huge ceiling and erupting from every angle upon the ground. They pulsed, shone, glittered in this Eden's Garden. The flowers let out sprays of perfume, so heavy they turned into moist droplets that reflected the scintillating crystals. It was so bright, the air was so heavy, yet so uplifting, the beauty struck them dumb. And the size…the cavern never seemed to end. Tunnels twisted into the walls but the bottom was never to be seen. Pools of water collected and spilt down in cascades, their gentle flooding sound creating a wondrous music.

"We have to go down," Selphie whispered, her fingers curled around the ledge.

"I'm the heaviest, let me first," Nida answered, finding a chink in the rocks that his cord could be attached to.

They watched in silence as he swung himself over the ledge, free floating in the heavenly cave. He swayed there, staring, for a moment. Pressing the shades of blue, green, the swatches from the sunset, all of it into his mind. He lowered himself hand over hand, swinging on to another ledge that bordered a small pool.

Her breath coming out quickly, every exhalation faster than the last, Selphie watched in suspense as Nida landed gracefully next to the pool. Squall and her scrambled down to meet him, the three of them smiling with giddy happiness.

"Look!" Selphie squealed, pointing, downwards,

"How deep is it!?" Nida gasped.

The bottom of the cavern, what they had thought was never ending, was a motionless body of water. It reflected the pools and the images caught from the crystals, making the cavern one hundred times its size. Selphie bounced on her feet.

"Oh, we have to!"

Squall blinked in surprise, looking at her. Her eyes were filled with joy, her cheeks flushed, hands clenched together and lips parted in excitement. Nida looked no less cheerful, he was already taking off his jacket.

Squall breathed in the air, the sweet scent, elation filled him.

"Yes."

The three SeeDs ripped off their outer uniforms, tearing them away, and leapt off the ledge into the crystalline blue water below.

OoO

Irvine lay awake, staring at the ceiling. He was tired, but wide awake. The silence on his left could only mean that Michelle had drifted to bed long ago. The soft movements on his right meant Quistis was up prowling. Now there was a true enigma. What was on the mind of the lofty Quistis Trepe? Was she focusing on the mission? Ensuring their next victory? How serious she was for someone so young. Next to Selphie there might as well have been twenty years between the two. Not that Selphie couldn't snap from squealing to deadly in two seconds flat…but Quistis was refined danger in a gorgeous body.

"Cut it, Kinneas, Trepe would lash you with that whip of hers if she knew what you were thinking."

He smiled at the thought. A mission spent with two very lovely women doing paper work. Well, there was nothing to be a hero about but at least they could all lounge on the couch while going over something mind numbingly boring. Irvine figured his sense of humour would be well appreciated in this situation.

In the morning a young fellow woke them up with polite taps on their doors. He waited patiently for them to open up before showing them where they could bathe and prepare themselves for the morning tour.

Quistis and Michelle entered a white-tiled room with a circular bench on the middle, it rested around a column bearing mirrors and sinks and although the overall design seemed strange they both sat down and got ready for the day.

"Argh…too much hair!" Michelle grumbled, trying to throw her hair into a style other than its usual waist-length two pigtails,

Quistis peered at her from around the corner and blinked, "I can help."

She rose and stood behind Michelle, examining the mass of dark purple strands for a moment before lifting it all up into her arms. It was amazing how thick and lush the woman's hair was. Slowly Quistis separated the strands and curved half of the weight into a bun, letting the rest flow free…to…

"You have the longest hair I have ever seen," Quistis exclaimed

Michelle looked apologetic but her grey eyes sparkled. When she stood up the long glossy cascade fell nearly mid-thigh, it was the sheer volume and spring when it was done up in pigtails that made it look slightly shorter.

"It looks good! Thanks Quistis!" Michelle thought the name felt strange on her tongue, she was so used to 'Ms. Trepe'.

Quistis smiled and threw on a hasty mask of mascara to frame her sky blue eyes and threw her hair into the same style she always wore. Michelle decided that before the meeting she'd change that for Quistis but it could wait. They were on a mission, not getting dolled up for a night on the town. Still, she was desperate to make good friends with these SeeDs and little moments of bonding were important.

And there was that little matter of that gorgeous man they had been paired up with…

Michelle felt a blush sweep her cheeks and she hurried out to see if Irvine was waiting for them.

OoO

"And here, over this way, is our library of journals, texts on organic biology and microbiology, a few related fields in chemistry…" The guide indicated inside a fair-sized room lined in shelves with tables and charts strung up on the walls,

"Interesting, do you keep your findings in here as well or do you wait before you log them?" Quistis asked,

"Oh no, they undergo a series of tests and are compared with the different districts of the lab, we take 5 experiments say, split into groups, and compared our findings after everyone is finished to see what answers parallel. If they all come up the same, or majority, we decide it's worth making detailed results over, the log goes to another group of scientists to confirm, then it ends up in the library."

The SeeDs nodded their approval and the man continued to glide down the hallways. He was suddenly interrupted by a young boy with a flurry of papers, a dishevelled appearance and glasses askewer on his face.

"I'm s-s-s-sorry! You're desperately needed in the B-section of the complex!"

"Oh, bother!" The guide sighed and whipped out a small metal square with a screen.

Using a stylus he tapped away for a few precious seconds before a series of yellow and green lights flared on the sides of the hallway and streamed along and out of sight. He smiled apologetically,

"You can continue the tour by following the yellow path, the green takes you home, doors with red stripes across them must not be entered, for your safety, the others are offices and labs with their descriptions outside of their use."

That said, the tour guide and young lad whisked out of sight, leaving three bewildered SeeDs. Quistis glanced at her two companions, her eyebrows arched gracefully and then she pivoted and strode down the hallway with an air of authority.

Irvine and Michelle shared a look and shrugged, following her brisk pace and continuing the tour with Quistis as the new guide. They followed the yellow path past nondescript offices and a few labs where peeks inside the glass windows showed men and women toiling away over vials and data. All at once after a large expanse of blank wall, they came upon a door whose glass window was fogged over from humid air. Quistis blinked and leaned forward before smiling in delight.

"This looks like something akin to our training centre. A biological field created to grow and harvest, but in a natural environment,"

"Let's go check it out!" Irvine smiled.

The SeeDs opened the door and pushed through thick rubbery stripes of plastic that held in the moist air, letting the door close softly behind them. None of three noticed the remaining scraps of red that once marked the door off-limits, faded and cracked off from use.

OoO

OoO

So. Parents came back from Italy, I was gone all weekend visiting them. One thing I noticed was the update I sent…I didn't get an author alert from it until 3-4 days afterwards. I'm not sure why there was such a lag.


	5. Chapter 5

AS5

Selphie felt the cool liquid bathe her skin. She surfaced and shook the aqua droplets from her hair, gliding gently to the edge of the rocks and pulling herself up slowly. She sat on the edge, eyes glazed, mind numb, watching Squall and Nida trail after her.

Her lips parted, Squall rose up, half naked, chest sparkling with water, his eyes as lifeless as hers were. Nida followed him, something dark lurking in their expressions. She would never truly be sure of what happened next, in recollection. She only remembered lying down and watching Squall descend upon her, Nida's arms coiling around her pulling her closer to them. Something happened, something emotional and carnal and without a hint of their awareness being apart of it.

When she awoke her mind was still in oblivion. The sweet smell was still floating in the air, dazing her. She sat up and slipped into the water, swimming slowly in circles and reaching the other side by chance. She found pieces of their clothes strewn everywhere and slowly she tugged what she found of hers on. She didn't know why she dressed, it was simple habit that made her do so.

She found that if she crept around the edges of the pool she could make it to where Nida and Squall lay without having to swim back through again. Her hands dug into the stone, through layers of plant life. The soft leaves brushed against her skin and it was thus how she discovered the fruit hidden amongst the flowers.

She picked it, sunset-hued round fruit, pods with blue berry-like seeds inside. Carrying these treasures to her companions she sat and bit in.

When Squall awoke it was to see her head tilted back in ecstasy, juice shimmering on her lips. He was offered his own, and the sensual sweetness made him growl in pleasure. They feasted, the three of them, on this fruit.

Unaware of the time that had past the three drugged SeeDs basked in the chamber, splashing in the water, touching the precious crystals that were warm on the fingertips and hummed some sweet melody, breathing in the intoxicating scent.

It wasn't until dawn broke that holes in the hillside filled with sunlight. These rays filtered into the cavern and all at once the hum stopped. The flowers closed their petals and the scent dissipated from the air.

Selphie blinked her eyes sleepily and yawned. She was tired, yet somehow felt rested at the same time. She rubbed her eyes and turned around, preparing to analyze some of the plant material when it suddenly occurred to her…

"I'm at the bottom of the chamber," She blinked, "Squall? Nida?"

Turning her eyes rounded. The two men were both blushing, both wearing very little, and both holding half eaten fruit. Selphie realized she was wet up to her waist. Had she gone swimming? But why in her clothes? Why was SHE wet when Squall and Nida were dry? Where were THEIR clothes?!

"What happened?" She demanded fiercely,

"I don't know…" Nida stood up and looked around blankly, "My jacket is up there, how did we get down here? I don't remember a thing."

"Let's get out first," Squall leapt to his feet, blushing a scarlet red and eager to leave, "Look, we used a rope, we must have dove down. We can climb back up to the rope and see if it's still secure,"

"But why can't we remember?" Selphie whispered, worried beyond belief,

"I don't know, come on," Squall touched her arm to pull her towards them and the single touch invoked a blur of memories, half formed.

"Erk!" he jerked back as if burned, Selphie's eyes widened, she looked down, her eyes widened further, her face glowed in embarrassment.

Did she really do what she thought she did? No, never, with Squall? Of course not. So why were they both redder than before?

"Let's go, you guys need clothes." She said hastily, reaching for the stonewall and seeking purchase there.

They climbed up slowly, muscles sore though they couldn't remember why. Along the voyage they collected their uniforms and put them on piece by piece until they each had squirmed up the rope and wound up on the same ledge as before. Once there they bolted for the crevice and squeezed through, once again experiencing the vile sensation of the slimy outer cave walls.

Selphie breathed in the cool fresh air and sighed in relief. She couldn't explain her feelings, why she felt so much desire to be out of there when every nerve screamed at her to go back in. Squall and Nida looked to be feeling the same tangle though, as both kept glancing back into the strange oasis. Their shoes crunched across the pebbles bits of dead leaf as they crossed out of the cave and into the shelter of their tent.

As the afternoon progressed they huddled in their tent, three computers out with the SeeDs all tapping away at their journals and outlines, throwing down every memory they had and trying to remember any details previously forgotten.

"We were in there for four days…" Selphie glared at the miniscule amount of writing she had done, "why can't we remember anymore? The drop, the crystals…the scent of something, and…I know I'm missing something,"

Squall frowned and nodded, "I remember climbing down the rope, and I remember diving into the water, I remember that very clearly. I remember coming out of the water and…and…"

He grimaced and squinted his eyes, trying to remember. He had been staring at Selphie on the rocks, barely a stitch on her, he remembered swimming up to her, crawling over her, looming over her, and there was Nida, but then?

"Nothing," He shrugged helplessly, looking upset.

Selphie brought her knees to her chest and looked at them bleakly, "You know what this means right?"

Nida ran a hand through his hair and sighed, nodding, "We go back."

"Not tonight though, tomorrow afternoon, we need time to settle this," Squall ordered, "A good sleep, a decent meal tomorrow, and then we sort the supplies and go back in."

OoO

"Mmf!"

"Zell says 'thank you'" Kerei translated with a straight face as the three SeeDs bolted down a hot meal provided by some Trabia remainders.

Rinoa burst into giggles and shot Kerei a grin before continuing her own portion. After the attack Trabia Garden had elected to move the three SeeDs closer and had designated them part of the broken courtyard so that there was less of a chance of a thief getting past them. Kerei winked back at took a sip of the hot tea she had ordered and closed her eyes in bliss. Yes, it was definitely better to eat meals inside instead of out in the snow!

"I bet they'll come in again tonight now that they know it's just three of us," Rinoa declared, drawing a little diagram of their camp with salad dressing and a carrot stick,

"I was thinking the same thing, what if we designed a second shelter further back, kept one of us in there so if they spring an attack we can pincer them?" Kerei pushed her plate aside and added a few pieces of celery to Rinoa's platter, constructing a smaller fort away from the carrot-and-dressing camp,

"Good idea, I bet we could freeze some snow on it too to make it that much harder to knock down," Rinoa nodded.

Zell watched them play with their food and eventually he realized the plans were getting a bit technical when lettuce 'tree's and radish 'pit traps' were being organized. He smirked quietly, let them have their fun.

"We could use more info on them, leaders, organizations, what they are actually hoping to GET from this stuff," He noted.

Rinoa beamed at him and nodded vigorously while Kerei looked slightly perplexed. She acted how he had when he first became a SeeD, all for physical fortifications and precious little strategizing. He smiled at her and briefly told her why the info might be useful, watching the lights go on behind her eyes and a smile cross her face.

"But how are we going to get that?" She asked earnestly, "If we grab someone they might not tell us the truth!"

"Hm..." Rinoa mused, "Oh, of course, grab one, trap another, quick exchange of clothing, let the trapped one loose and follow him home!"

"Perfect!" Zell enthused, "All riiiiight,"

"Then what?" Kerei blinked,

"…"

"…"

"We'll…play it by ear," Zell responded after some thought, "Whoever gets to go in can keep a beacon and a Comm. Link,"

"Sounds like a plan," Kerei grinned, giving them high-fives.

OoO

Quistis breathed deeply and tried to ignore the feeling of the sticky hair pressing against her skin. Michelle had wilted within two minutes of entering, the poor girl was nearly hyperventilating she was trying to get air so badly and she stepped unsteadily behind the others.

"Why…do they…keep it so hot…in here?" She panted, "I can barely…breathe!"

"I don't know," Irvine fanned himself with his hat, "Quistis, do we really need to make a full tour of this room?"

"Well hold on you two," Quistis squinted slightly, "There's something back there."

Curious, the three SeeDs stepped delicately across the plant matter, ignoring the rustlings around them of small critters on their daily routines. The foliage grew thicker and thicker, with huge plants with torso-sized leaves sprouting up and fanning all around them. Quistis peeled back a few stalks of these plants and climbed over the low-lying branches only to come to a halt and frown with increasing concern.

"Hey, Quisty-what—" Irvine swallowed and laid a hand on her shoulder, "Maybe we should turn back…"

"You think?!" Quistis nearly screeched.

Before them was a metal platform, and on it large capsules with humanoid creatures inside. Tubes had been injected into these once-human's limbs and chests and scalps, pouring different fluids into the body and withdrawing any waste products.

"They didn't mention experiments of this type to us," Michelle breathed, wiping a strand of plastered hair off her forehead, "This…this is inhumane, no one has the right to do this!"

"Wait," Irvine, grabbed Quistis' shoulder and held her there, "Wait, look,"

Alarmed, he strode forward, standing at the very edge of the platform and gazing intently into one of the capsules. His skin turned cold and his heart thumped painfully against his chest.

"That person in there…that person is wearing the official emissary robes of Esthar, we need to get OUT of here!"

Needing no more urging the three SeeDs turned on heel and ran for the door.

Their boots clanging across the hallways as they ran, Quistis directed them back to their rooms where they crammed themselves into Irvine's and lay panting on his bed. Quistis took off her jacket and threw it over a chair, shook her hair out of its confines and raked her fingers through it before pinning it back up, trying to rid herself of the clinging hot air.

On her back on the bed, Michelle gnawed at her lip and looked distressed at her companions, "What do we do? We can't ignore that, we can't stage an attack when there's only three of us and we don't even know WHAT those things were…"

"And we're in danger," Irvine finished, "I know what we can do, we can contact Cid after tomorrow's meeting, we'll say we're confirming the clauses of the contract and then we get _him_ to phone Laguna, if their emissary didn't come back he's going to be curious as to what happened,"

Quistis frowned, "I don't know how long that man has been in there, it's possible Laguna knows he's missing but then why didn't he send more? Either they'd come back empty handed or they wouldn't come back, either way it should raise alarms,"

"Not necessarily," Michelle sat up, "What if the emissary was sent to multiple locations? Then the Estharian government would have to search far and wide along all the transport routes,"

"Damn," Quistis and Irvine said in unison,

"Well, we'll phone Cid, and we'll see what happens," Irvine shrugged helplessly, "And…we'll lock all of our doors,"

"Yeah," Michelle replied softly, "Definitely."

OoO


	6. Chapter 6

AS6

"Ouch," Selphie winced and rubbed her ankle, sore from her excursions and still swollen,

"Here," Nida cast another round of curagas on her, watching the green eyes fill with relief as Selphie stood up straighter,

"Thanks Nida."

Selphie hefted her backpack up and cringed inwardly. With no weight but her own on her ankle, things were okay, but even with the magical healing she knew she wouldn't be able to put up with the pack for long. Squall was still organizing what went into his backpack, and she noticed he threw in an unlabelled jar discreetly before piling in his clothes. As he stood up he flicked his bangs out of his eyes and cast her a blank look of innocence, making her curiosity stir.

"I have to admit, I'm not happy about going back," She said uneasily, looking at the cave behind their tent,

"Neither, we lost a lot of time in there though, and we need to figure out what happened," Nida sighed, "The first sunny day in 4 days, and we get to be stuck in a cave. There's no justice here,"

"At least we'll be dry," Squall shrugged, throwing his pack over his shoulder and then moving to the leading position.

They put Selphie between the two men, so if she stumbled at all one of them could catch her. She didn't mind the silent pampering; anything was better than falling headfirst into that slime! Yuck! As they descended into the cave, the SeeDs slipped on clear gloves and began taking off small samples of the odorous plantation using tweezers and vials. Each wore a belt that had 20 slots to hold these samples and bit by bit they harvested everything they could find.

"There's a slight differentiation in colour," Nida remarked, "Looks like the deeper we go, the brighter green they get,"

"And the dryer, have you noticed?" Selphie frowned in concentration as she plucked off a stringy sample,

"Let's go back in here, I don't remember any of the foliage being moist in the least," Squall nodded towards the crevice, making them all shudder,

"Right-o," Selphie swallowed and followed him towards the gap in the wall.

Squall stepped in first and cast a hawk-eyed glance around the massive cavern. Finding nothing out of the ordinary he turned and caught Selphie struggling to get through without forcing too much weight on her ankle, her face pale with pain.

As gently as he could he lifted her out, watching the surprise on her face as he set her on the ground and took off her bag so she could rest easy.

"That ankle is getting worse, not better, I don't know what happened in those four days but I bet you weren't staying off your feet," He said sternly, "From now on you're not carrying a bag, and when we make camp we're re-bandaging that."

She nodded mutely and then mumbled shy thanks, something that caught him off guard. He had expected a bouncy Selphie-like reply with a rib-crushing hug. But then, Selphie hadn't really been the same since her and Irvine split. Nida followed and then scanned the area, looking surprised.

"Is it just me, or does it feel different?" He asked, brown eyes full of concern,

"You mean, it doesn't feel like anything?" Selphie asked, "I remember, I remember the first time, I thought this was the most wonderful place ever, full of light, full of…something,"

"It was," Squall confirmed, "but it's dark as hell now."

They lit their torches and watched the amber glow light up the crystals on the walls. It wasn't the blinding light that had been there before, and the cavern seemed so much smaller. Taking out ropes and chisels they marked the stone and made grooves for their clamps to cling to before sliding down the side of the opening ledge and down to another plateau.

"We need to sample this water. It must be safe because we had to drink it for four days, but still," Squall knelt at the edge of the pool and dipped the vial in before rummaging for a stopper.

As he brought the vial to his bag in search of the cork he caught a faint scent perfuming the liquid. Hesitantly he inhaled it and felt a faint rush of euphoria sweep through his body.

"Uh!" He jerked back in surprise, "Don't touch the water,"

Selphie and Nida froze in their sample collecting and looked at him expectantly. Squall stared at the vial and then sighed, "I'm going to do a series of tests, you might need to restrain me,"

"What?! Squall! We can't afford to do tests on ourselves," Selphie cried, "what if something happens?"

"No, we need to know what happened, listen, we all know we dove into the water, this test will be similar, except you two can watch what happens to me," Squall replied calmly, "I can smell something in this sample, and it feels like…like a pale shadow of what happened to us, I want to see if the same substance can be absorbed into the skin."

Nida and Selphie slid over to him with disturbed expressions but they did as he asked and bound his back to the wall of rock behind him, moving their packs and samples out of his reach and waiting quietly.

Squall took a deep breath and then stripped off his gloves. He poured a small amount of the water into his palm and rubbed it in, and then without warning, swallowed the rest.

"Squall!" Selphie hissed, "What are you doing?"

But Squall wasn't focusing on her, he was staring dead ahead with a peaceful smile on his features.

OoO

"Right, yeah, exactly," Irvine spoke quietly into the microphone they had attached to Quistis' Techtop, "So just find a way to contact us after you've heard from President Loire."

He took off the headset and shrugged at the two women in front of him. It was their free day before the meeting and now that they had reported to Cid there didn't seem like anything else to do. Leaning up against the wall of his room, Irvine sighed looked up at the ceiling.

"I don't like staying here," Quistis whispered, "This feels far too much like a trap now,"

"I was thinking the same thing," Michelle murmured, her eyes glazed over in thought as she watched the floor, "but why us? Why would they want SeeDs for their experiments?"

Irvine snorted, "I can think of plenty of reasons. We're soldiers, our bodies are in peak condition. We've been raised to use magic and draw it out of other organisms, why wouldn't someone want to poke tubes into us and turn us into weird hybrid plant-people?"

"Mm." Quistis frowned, her blue eyes darkening, "There's something wrong with that though isn't there?"

Irvine and Michelle looked at her expectantly.

"I mean, those people in the tubes were regular diplomats,"

"Gotta start somewhere," Irvine shrugged,

"No, I mean, there is only one living organism in those men, themselves,"

"I don't follow you Trepe," Irvine stared at her,

"We have Guardian Forces," Quistis replied, "you know what happens when you bond with a GF for an extended amount of time,"

"Right, they're parasitic creatures, they live off of our memories, I'm still not following you,"

"Does Siren ever…talk to you?" Quistis ventured slowly, looking at him with widened eyes,

"I…what?" Irvine's jaw dropped, "Quezalcoatl talks to you?!"

"Not exactly, but he's not even remotely humanoid. He…emotes…to me," Quistis sighed, "It's hard to explain,"

"No, wait, like, like when I'm upset, and I feel this wave of comfort that comes out of nowhere?" asked Irvine,

"Or when you're angry," Michelle spoke up, "and you can feel this building rage that comes out of nowhere,"

"Exactly, I think that after you're with them for awhile, they care about you, they need us, and if someone were to harm their host bodies…don't you think they'd do something about it?" Quistis' arched her eyebrows at them.

It was a lot to think about. Irvine closed his mouth and folded his arms over his chest. He was about to object when the feeling of arms wrapping around him in a gentle embrace gave him pause.

"Siren?" He asked in awe,

A feeling of shy consent rippled through him and Irvine exhaled slowly. Quistis had an inward gaze on the floor as if she were also mentally speaking with her various guardians and Michelle was sharing the same shocked expression as Irvine was.

"Well," she said softly, "this buys us a little time and a lot of security."

OoO

They went to the meeting the next day, and despite their fears it went smoothly. The talks were courteous and thorough, Quistis and Michelle shone like stars in their debates and when it ended they all went away feeling pleased. It was a complete contrast to what they had felt in that biological field of horrors.

"Um, excuse me!" A hesitant voice stopped them on their way to the rooms.

Quistis turned and saw a young man with green eyes and dark hair striding towards them. She recognized him as one of the chemists from the meeting and smiled warmly at him.

"What can we do for you?" Quistis asked, pushing her glasses up the bridge of her nose with an index finger,

"I just wanted to say that you had a remarkable speech back there, this alliance we're discussing is just an amazing opportunity for both of us," The man said enthusiastically, "medicine and immunity for you and the funding we need to keep producing our wares, I mean, not every company gets such a chance,"

Smiling again Quistis reached out and shook his hand, "Very kind of you to say so. What was your name again…"

"Malach," He grinned and blushed under her sapphire gaze, "If you ever need anything, don't hesitate to call me,"

"Will do," Irvine interrupted, sweeping over and shaking the man's hand as well with a polite smile, "Ah, we need to prepare for the next meeting so Quistis can dazzle everyone with another speech, good to meet you Mike, er, Malach!"

He steered Quistis away and the three of them disappeared down the hall, leaving Malach to watch after the golden goddess' back. He smiled to himself. Did that longhaired man admire her as well? He couldn't blame the SeeD, Quistis was a fine specimen.

OoO

"What was that about?" Quistis asked when they were in Michelle's room with tea brewing,

"I didn't like the look he was giving you," Irvine replied testily, "Let's not talk about it."

Michelle and Quistis exchanged a look and shrugged.

"Anyways, he was right though, this contract we're forging is certainly important. I just wish…ugh…it's so good but how can we forget what we saw?" Michelle growled quietly, "Do you think we should go back on our next free day and confirm? Maybe it wasn't what we thought it was."

Quistis and Irvine both looked troubled but eventually Quistis nodded, "We might have to,"

"Are you both nuts?"

"No, Irvine, think about it. We didn't get as close as we could, the air was thick and humid, the capsules were partially fogged over with all the moisture!" Quistis sighed, "We can bring some binoculars,"

"You're nuts," Irvine sighed, "I don't like it at all, but we'll do it,"

"That fluid they were immersed in was thick and distorting too," Michelle pointed out, "I just hope we don't trigger any alarms or get caught,"

"Let's not think of that," Quistis sighed, "otherwise we might find ourselves on a metal platform too."

OoO


	7. Chapter 7

AS7

It wasn't nearly as potent but Squall could feel a sweet rush of bliss flood his body. He could see Nida on his left side, looking concerned, and Selphie on his right, staring at him with wide eyes. He hadn't remembered her eyes being so bright before. In fact, he hadn't remembered her being so beautiful before. She had always seemed too loud, too energetic, too _cute_. But now her dark lashes were framing luminous emerald orbs, her lips were parted and her face porcelain in the darkness around them. Vaguely he remembered the taste of those lips. He leaned towards her and then growled when he realized he was strapped to the rocks and couldn't touch her.

Selphie raised her eyebrows at Nida in confusion as Squall jerked in her direction and looked, for a moment, ever so angry. He leaned back with a sigh, calmness washing over his features as if he was remembering something sweet.

"What was that?" Nida asked her,

"I don't know, he looked like he wanted to snap free for a moment," Selphie replied, her heart beating still at the brief look of lust that had swept through his eyes,

"Not that, _that_," Nida hissed, motioning her to be quiet and listen.

It was faint, a soft whisking sound that briefly jarred her memory but the thoughts slipped away. Selphie froze as the sound became louder and as her breath caught in her throat she reached and snatched up Strange Vision in preparation.

Nida had grabbed his longbow at the same time and they stood warily with Squall in between them. Selphie cocked her ear to the still air and closed her eyes just slightly. The sound was rustling now, coming up from…below?"

"Look out," She commanded, flinging out her weapon with her deadly precision.

A glassy blue tentacle snaked up and reached for her ankle but the clubbed ends of Strange Vision beat down on the offending limb as Selphie hopped back with cat-quick reflexes.

Of course, cat-quick reflexes only work perfectly if the body is intact. Her ankle collapsed beneath her and Selphie let out a clipped shriek of pain and horror as the tentacle leapt for her leg and wrapped around her.

Nida growled and slashed at Squall's bindings, embedding an arrow into the blue limb that held Selphie and then crying out as he saw three more.

"We've made something angry, that's for sure," He said through gritted teeth, "Are you okay Selphie?"

"Yeah," Her voice betrayed her true feelings, as it was coloured with pain, "I'll be fine."

Squall was on his feet, his eyes infused with anger. He grabbed Selphie around the waist and deposited her behind him, equipping his gunblade and watching the tentacles warily. Leaning against the rocks Selphie braced herself so that her weight was off her injured leg and then called out to her companions.

"Those tentacles have no suction on them, I don't think it's a water creature, but…I don't know what it is or why we haven't encountered it before,"

"Maybe we have," Squall answered, "Whatever, let's kill it and ask questions after."

He was still shaking off the effects of the water he had ingested but his mind felt sharper than it had moments before. Springing away from a sudden attack, Squall found himself on the edge of the ledge, teetering from falling into the lake far below. He knew that contact with that water would render him useless and suddenly it became a battle of balance while he fought off two of the blue glossy limbs.

"Can anyone see what it's attached to!?" Selphie cried as she lashed out again, watching her weapon slide right off the hardened scales that covered the tentacles,

"I can't quite see it, I think...I think it's on the underside of the ledge," Nida gasped, trying to keep within ranged striking distance with the limited places to move,

"Look!" Selphie pointed in shock,

All over the walls there were openings in the rock, and each opening was sprouting creatures with blue tentacles. It was as if they were under water watching giant anemones fluttering their limbs yet these creatures needed no watery environment, and they were easily over ten times larger!

"This…this is not good," Nida said grimly.

Selphie launched another attack and watched Squall fighting for a place to stand. She was too far away to help him but Nida was in good range to send more arrows in his direction. He needed no urging, and while Squall was ducking, three sharpened lances flew straight and true into one of the tentacles, sending it, and the others, screaming out of sight.

Breathing deeply Selphie slid to a sitting position and watched the other holes warily for more attackers. The energy that had filled them had been spent in the sudden battle and now all she felt was tired. The other creatures didn't even seem interested in them though, as if they had limited vision or low sensory skills. Squall collapsed beside her wearily and smiled a small smile at their close-win.

It wasn't often he bestowed that upon her, and Selphie found herself smiling back vibrantly. Nida joined them without asking, and took off Selphie's boot so he could look at her ankle.

"Now that we're potentially under siege we have to get you fixed up," He announced,

"Agreed," Selphie nodded, "Have at me."

She missed the expressions on the two men as her words stirred memories but both of them only faltered for half a second before she felt a cool salve being applied to the swollen ankle and bandages being gently wrapped around it. It was Squall who administered this, seeming shy as he did so. Nida shrugged apologetically at her.

"Engineer's hands don't make good for bandaging," he grimaced.

Selphie grinned and watched as Squall patched her up. His skin was softer than she would have given him credit for, but in reflection she realized he was always wearing supple leather gloves, protecting him from the calluses that the rest of them had.

Well, not Quistis, but then Quistis had the body of a model and kept herself clothed from chin to toe. No surprise then since it was Quistis who trained Squall mostly.

"Do you hear that?" Nida asked suddenly, making Selphie groan,

"No, not that, _that_,"

"Rain," Squall supplied.

They looked up and heard the soft far-away pattern of the raindrops drumming down the hillside. Selphie sighed and rubbed her arms quietly, feeling the chill of the adrenaline leaving her system.

She must have been tired, for the room around her was growing darker…

"What-the-hell?!"

Her head jerked up to see Nida's alarmed expression.

The walls of the cave were changing. The sun had left, the clouds covered up the sky. As darkness flooded the cave flowers began to unfurl their petals and a soft phosphorescent light began to glimmer. Ever growing stronger was a sickeningly sweet scent.

"We need to get out of here!" Squall shouted, hastily throwing things into his pack.

Nida bound for the rope and began snaking his way up, throwing his longbow on to the ledge ahead of him and swinging his legs up. The perfume was fogging his senses, making him stumble but at last he made it to the gap in the cave, deafened to the cries of his friends behind him.

OoO

"Figures this would happen." Kerei sighed softly.

It had been a day of no activity. The expected rebel attack had not come despite the extensive edible plans Rinoa and Kerei had constructed. They had amused themselves by logging on to Balamb's extensive Technetwork and reading how their comrades were doing. It was at first the usual reports from Quistis' team, until they reached the infusion of two organic beings into a strange hybrid, and now how the team faced potential danger.

"Who thought a diplomacy meeting would turn into that?" Zell blinked,

"I hope Michelle is okay," Kerei replied fervently,

"Quistis is with them," Zell and Rinoa responded at the same time, both smiling as they did so.

They moved on to Squall's team, and that was when they all stared at the reports in confusion.

"It's been what, almost five days? And they don't remember what happened for four of them?" Rinoa bit her lip, "I thought they were just going fungus-hunting,"

"They were, oh Hyne I hope Selphie is okay," Zell groaned,

"Squall is with them," Rinoa and Kerei said at the same time, laughing again,

"You know, he's not always as wonderful as everyone says he is," Zell sighed, "And Selphie isn't being herself either. And Hyne! Nida rarely does combat missions."

It quietened them down and they sat in silence for a while. Kerei looked back at the reports from Quistis, Irvine and Michelle, noting that they had yet to update for the day and hoping their next message would be of their safety.

OoO

"Nida wait! Selphie!" Squall ground his teeth in frustration and threw down his pack.

Selphie could in no way carry her gear and herself up, she could barely stand. Fumbling his way over to her as the intoxicating fragrance lured his mind away Squall helped her up and half-carried her to the rope.

"Mm…Squall?"

Squall looked down, his cheeks flushed and he was desperately trying to clear his head. Selphie was watching him from under her eyelashes her lips parted, Squall swallowed and tried to focus but his mind was slipping away.

"Let's…stay here awhile…" She whispered in his ear, her fingers working there way inside his clothing,

"S-Selphie!"

As Squall pushed her against the smooth wall, his mouth devouring her own eager lips, the cave walls became alive. Glassy tentacles, feeders, snaked out and writhed in the energy being produced by the two SeeDs. Just as it had fed off their anger, it now fed off their lust. And when the two were exhausted and sleeping in their bliss, it would feed off their happiness until they were too tired to move.

OoO

OoO

I have to admit, after I designed the creatures in the cave I thought 'this has the makings of a really typical hentai flick!' after realizing that I have opted to change their makeup a titch so there is less of a resemblance!

Edit: I didn't get an alert for chapter 6, did any of you?


	8. Chapter 8

AS8

Rinoa arranged her bedding to perfection and snuggled on to the blankets to read a book while she waited for the sun to go down. It had been far too quiet out lately and her guard was getting tenser and tenser. She could tell that Zell and Kerei were in the same state of near-paranoia as she was, since they kept fidgeting and the smallest noise had them leaping into battle stances.

Snow fell lightly from the sky, coating the old tracks until they became the merest of indents. The soft sound of it on the tarp stretched over their shelter was comforting; it didn't mask the other sounds of night, much to their relief, only provided a gentle background noise to become absorbed into.

Kerei's eyes glinted and she flicked splinters of wood into their modest fire anxiously, watching the tinder flare up as it hit the coals and then burn quietly as if it had every intention of doing so in the first place. Her hair, cropped short in the back but falling longer into bangs she could almost hook behind her ears, fluttered in the breeze. All was still.

"This is killing me." Zell whispered under his breath, so softly she barely heard him.

Kerei nodded miserably and rocked back on her heels, gazing out into the snowdrifts beyond the shelter. Watching the snowflakes, the night-beasts rummaging for food, the eerie shadows slinking closer to the camp…

...shadows slinking closer to the camp…

"Erk." Kerei jabbed Zell harshly in the side and jerked her chin in the direction she had seen the four approaching entities.

Rinoa's brown eyes slid sideways as she heard the approaching footfalls. Her body hadn't moved an inch and her Shooting Star was ready for dispatch. Kerei and Zell glided apart from each other and left the shelter quietly, leaving Rinoa to start making some every-day noises of camp life as if she were preoccupied.

"Eh? Yeah it's ready," She said in every day tones, "Get your dinner before it freezes. I'll make more."

She clanged a pot and pan together, wincing at the unbearably loud noise it made over the silent environment. She crinkled the edges of a hotdog package and threw some water into one of the pots, wishing this were over, hoping it would all play out smoothly. Beyond the camp, shadows continued to creep forward, but now there were six out there, and not four.

OoO

Zell bounded out of the snow and tackled his opponent swiftly. They rolled back and forth, the blunt pain of fists compacting into flesh echoed dully and was all but masked by the snow. Zell coughed as nails tore open his lip at the side and in retaliation he snarled and slammed his knuckles hard enough into his opponent's torso to feel the ribs shatter under the impact.

Both men were clothed in dark material, and as they spun around they became a blur of coal-coloured limbs, entwined and grabbing at whatever handholds they could find on each other. Because of the monotonous colouring, when Zell saw a flash of silver he knew instantly what it was.

"Cheap!"

He twisted out of the reach of the knife and hissed as it slashed dangerously close to his neck, slicing into the padding of his shoulder armour instead. In the commotion he didn't have time to think, only to react, so when the knife came plunging down he simply collapsed the man's elbow and send the dagger in reverse, straight into the man's chest. Rolling on to his back Zell panted for breath.

"Damn…it's up to Kerei and Rinoa to grab a hostage now."

OoO

"I'm never going to get used to this," Irvine sighed,

"What, is Siren being more vocal now that you understand that she's trying to talk to you?" Quistis asked with a bemused expression,

"Well, it's just…I didn't think of it like she was IN me or anything, she was magic, and I summoned her. Now it's like, she's a magical being, living off me, surviving off me, and she helps me in return for life," Irvine squirmed in his seat a little,

"Guardian Forces keep so much from us," Michelle smiled, "Talk to Kerei about it, she's probably the most vocal student on bringing a new course load based on new findings of Guardian Force behaviour and history."

Quistis looked interested at that but when she opened her mouth to comment she noticed the clock was marked at lunch. Standing abruptly she cast a look at her companions and raised her eyebrows.

"Time to go." Irvine conceded.

The room was exactly how they had left it. The air was sweltering and wet, the plants all thriving and the constant noise of creatures was almost a comfort. Irvine tipped his hat back so he could see and followed the winding path set by Quistis until they had reached the back of the room where the platform lay. Before she cleared the last barrier of flora Quistis heard voices and the sound of men tinkering with machinery. Blanching, she stopped stone still and brought her hand in a sweeping motion across her throat to Irvine and Michelle. In one fluid motion they dropped down and scattered to hide amidst the greenery.

"…might be too big, we never made these capsules for anyone over six feet,"

"Are you sure he's that tall? Hard to say with the hat and boots,"

"Pretty sure, what about the two girls?"

"That purple-haired one has a nice ass," laughed the second.

Irvine could almost _feel_ the seething anger from Michelle, lost somewhere on his right.

"I'm interested in the blonde. Did you see the way she moved? She's graceful. I looked her up, seems Balamb is doing us an honour by sending their top fighter,"

"I'm sure that's all you want with her…"

"I don't deny I'm planning on having some fun—"

Irvine's seething anger joined Michelle's.

Laughter followed again.

"Hey…did you hear something?"

"No, you're delusional, help me fix the Ph of these chemicals will you?"

"Yeah, yeah, just let me check the door."

Footsteps started walking across the platform in their direction. Heart palpitating in a frenzy, Irvine launched himself to his feet and bolted towards the exit. Through the screen of leaves he could see flashes of blonde and purple, glimpses of Balamb's uniform, and hear the ragged breathing of his friends. Then he heard Quistis stumble.

"I think someone's here!"

Michelle bounded like a deer into his path and he shoved her forward, knowing she'd need no hesitation to book it to their rooms. Irvine pivoted and looked back for Quistis, finding her several feet back scrambling for purchase.

"Quistis! I won't leave you," Irvine breathed as he knelt beside her and grabbed her hand,

"Irvine!" Her eyes glowed, and he was startled to see the fear lurking in their depths.

Wrenching her to her feet Irvine uses his long legs to carry them out the door and dashing in a long round about way of hitting their rooms. Quistis was silent the entire way, her composure collected and now her mind racing with a plan.

She followed Irvine into his room, surprising him, but what surprised him more was that she ripped his shirt open, tugged his hair free from its tail and then slammed a comb into his hand after throwing his shirt into the corner of the room. Shocked into silence he watched her take _her_ hair down and take off her glasses and run out of his room and into her own. He had no time to ask her what was up though, because no sooner had she fled and her door shut, men were running down the hall and demanding they open up.

When the SeeDs presented themselves Irvine saw Michelle in her casual clothes, her contract copies in her hand and a pen behind her ear. Quistis was giving them a frosty look, her hair was quite damp and she had wrapped herself in a towel as if she had just gotten out of the shower. And there was Irvine, seemingly about to get dressed.

"I hope we're not late for anything," Quistis said crisply, the implied meaning that she knew it was not so, "I believe our next meeting is tomorrow,"

"We heard some strange noises in one of our labs," the man said apologetically, his face red, "We, uh, wanted to make sure you were okay. You're our guests after all."

Quistis was watching him with a stony expression. A glance in their direction from the cold blue eyes was all they received before she snapped her gaze back on to the head soldier.

"We're fine," a bead of water slid down a lock of her hair and dropped on to the floor.

"Ah, yes, very good, well, thank you."

The men backed up and shuffled away uncertainly while Quistis disappeared into her room, letting the door shut loudly behind her. Lips threatening to tremble into a broad smile, Irvine swung himself around and gave into the desire, grinning like a fool as he sauntered into his dorm.

"Quistis, baby, you are one devious fox," He drawled as he fell on to his bed, chuckling.

OoO

Kerei scowled down at the body underneath her. She hadn't hit the man that hard. There was no way. She hadn't been aiming for any critical strike zones, hadn't even been using all her power. There was just NO way the guy could have come down so quickly. She stared down in disgust. Too upset with herself to even think about the fact that she had just killed someone.

She had heard the brief struggle inside the camp and fervently hoped Rinoa was holding her own. Both her Zell would have to amuse the fourth while Rinoa got into position now, and here came the fourth now.

She leapt out, knuckles flying, only to collide head-on with Zell. Their foreheads smashed and she saw stars, yelping in pain but managing to snag a handful of their enemy's clothes regardless.

"I didn't see you!" She squeaked in apology

"God DAMN that hurt," Zell swore, giving the man a punch to the gut and rubbing his head,

"I'm SO sorry," Kerei's face was a brilliant shade of scarlet, "I just—"

"Eee!"

"Rinoa!"

OoO

Adrenaline and fear coursed through her veins as Rinoa zipped up the loose black body suit and threw the hood up over her face, covering the partial mask the suit had come with.

Without looking back she strode purposefully out of the camp and then broke out into a run at the same time Zell and Kerei rushed past her to go 'save' their companion. Darting past the fallen 'comrade' she snagged his suit and tugged him to his feet, pushing him ahead of her and hoping it wouldn't be the last time she saw either of the fist fighters.

Time to fly.

OoO


	9. Chapter 9

AS9

In her drug-induced delirium Selphie dreamed. She dreamt of happy times, in the sunshine, chasing waves at Edea's with a lanky cowboy running after her. He'd never catch her until the last minute, that or he'd let her win.

Watching the television with his arms around her. Some silly Saturday cartoon she had begged him to wake up early to see. It had nearly killed him to see seven a.m. for no reason. He sat with a cigarette and a mug of coffee, his eyes glazed over but trying to pay attention for her sake.

Running through puddles, his hat on her head, his indigo eyes smiling down at her as she got him thoroughly soaked. The way he stripped her of her wet clothes when they got inside and wrapped her in a fuzzy towel, everything gentle and tender and passionate at the same time.

The darkness that had emerged when he left her life. Waking up alone, going to sleep alone, watching slowly as the light died from her eyes every time she looked at herself in the mirror. Find she missed every little thing, even the small piles of ashes he left on her bedside table after smoking in her dorm despite her frequent protests.

Her eyes opened to see those of the man next to her. Hazy grey-blue orbs that watched her with a possessive feel to them. His arms were holding her now, his hair falling over his face as he slowly woke and buried his face into her shoulder. Selphie turned in his arms and embraced Squall, feeling odd about it, yet not knowing why. She felt sleepy, like she could rest forever next to his warmth.

Throbbing pain in her ankle cleared her senses just enough to make her eyes open once more and cause her to sit up. The flesh was purpled and sore, tender to the touch, and Selphie bit her lip against the flood of pain. How had she not felt it before?

"Here,"

Squall was up, his voice deep with fatigue, and looking through his pack. He fished out the jar she dimly recalled seeing before and opened it, letting a faint aroma hit the air and mingle with the sickeningly sweet perfume. Fingers slathered in the thick salve began to ever so gently massage the injured ankle, numbing it and warming it to a pleasant sensation. Selphie breathed in relief and smiled at Squall, whispering her thanks.

She was about to lay down when the salve's spicy scent began to overpower that of the flower's nectar. Her world was slowly crashing down on her and Selphie became drastically aware of her nakedness, Squall's nakedness, and their odd position.

"S-Squall?" She gasped, her eyes wide and alarm spreading through every nerve.

He had dropped the jar and lunged for, not his clothes, but his gunblade. Fierce eyes glared at the cavern and he didn't seem to care about anything that had happened but their immediate danger. Selphie realized he was right, something was going wrong.

"Quick, we need to get dressed and find out how to counter this effect AND find out why the hell it's happening." Squall hissed.

She hurriedly did as he said, getting gingerly to her feet. As she steadied herself he turned and tilted her chin up and drew a line of the salve down the bridge of her nose, laughing softly at her bug-eyed expression at the movement.

"It's the scent, it might help us,"

"O-oh," Selphie blinked and went cross-eyed, making him laugh a little louder. She liked his laugh.

They gathered only what they could carry and Squall climbed up the rope with Selphie clinging to his side so she need only use one leg. They reached the top in silence and Selphie exhaled slowly in relief. She felt nauseous and wanted nothing more than to go to sleep, her strength was drained, and she felt confused and embarrassed.

At the top of the ledge the perfume had been diluted by the fresh air that came from outside the cave. Both SeeDs took in deep breaths and felt slightly better, though now the desire to leave was stronger than ever.

"Selphie," Squall reached out and picked her up, carrying her through the crevice and setting her down lightly outside,

"Thanks," She replied, "I owe you a lot."

He shrugged in typical Squall-fashion and carried on, letting his silence speak for itself in some form of answer. He didn't know what to make of what had happened, twice now, he feared. Selphie was a friend, and he felt like he had violated her in some way. Well, he thought, the second time was definitely on _her_ head, but the end product was the same.

_It's not like she has someone waiting for her when she gets back_. His thoughts whispered.

But that was irrelevant. She had never made innuendos to him before, so frankly, it could be assumed that she wanted nothing to do with him.

_And why do you care about it Ice Prince?_

He didn't! At least, he thought he didn't. Did he? Squall felt a headache coming on.

_Stop it. You're just lonely because Rinoa left you._

Yes, that was true, and it was obviously true she felt the same way about Irvine. But then, he didn't really _miss_ Rinoa anymore. She probably missed Irvine.

_Not your problem._

Well, that was fine, but it didn't make him feel any better about it.

_And what would make the Ice Prince happy?_

Squall sighed. Isn't that the most popular question.

_You know it, you _enjoyed_ yourself with her. You want her to feel the same._

He swallowed. Hard.

"Selphie! Squall! Oh Hyne I'm glad I've found you!" Nida pounced on them as soon as they came out of the cave, "I called Xu and I sent off the samples on my belt and I was going to go in but I couldn't figure out how I'd get you out without succumbing to the dru—"

"It's okay Nida," Selphie said, cutting off his babbling, "We're okay, Squall found a way to counteract the scent. We need sleep, I'm sorry."

Both men were startled at her words and when Squall and Nida looked at her they realized how close to collapsing she was. A wave of affection stole over Squall and he wrapped his arm around her shoulder, pleasantly surprised when she leaned into him.

"Let's go Sefie,"

His use of her nickname shocked a brilliant smile on to her face and her eyes lit up just enough to reassure him that she'd be okay.

After Nida had fallen to sleep, Squall lay awake in the tent with Selphie curled on her side, eyes closed but breathing irregular. After a long period of silence her eyes opened, dark in the lack of light, no shade of green for view.

"Do you have any regrets?" She whispered, watching him,

He surprised them both when he answered, "No."

OoO

Rinoa held her breath as she stalked into the darkness of the trees, trying desperately to keep up with the fleeting figure in front of her. Her heart was hammering in her chest but she knew she had to do this. This was a moment of truth where she needed to prove herself, her worth. Her eyes continuously scanned the darkness, trying to find landmarks so that she would be able to find her way back.

"Here!" The voice hissed in front of her, a black-gloved hand stretched out towards her.

She took it, wondering blankly why she had to take his hand. He pulled her towards him and then stamped on the ground hard. It took everything in her to not scream in terror as they were ejected up into the air, into the boughs of the trees, to…a platform?

She barely had the reflexes to catch the edge and pull herself up. Her companion knelt down and had to help her once more.

"You okay Jax?"

She nodded and whispered, disguising her gender, "Yeah, sorry, got beaten by that girl,"

"They're right tough aren't they?" he agreed, "No matter, we got one at least, we can keep going,"

"Yeah."

He led her to rope bridges, neatly hidden with moss draped over them, making them appear exactly like the rest of the evergreens. Rinoa crossed them, feeling pale and clammy at the sight of thin air beneath her feet. The man in front of her lead the way with confidence and she soon found herself looking down to the ground where a crevice had opened up, revealing a trap door.

The man simply dropped down. Rinoa gaped. He had let go and disappeared into the blackness. But what did he land on? Would it hurt? She felt herself shaking.

"Just do it Rinoa!" She hissed at herself, feeling her feet slip off the ropes and her heart plummet with her.

The impact was jarring. She landed in a tube, somewhat padded, and instantly slid through to an underground room, some sort of previous shelter. There were seven other individuals, all cloaked, nodding and looking relieved at her. Their half masks covered their mouths, and a thin layer of gauze made their eyes hard to see, she could read the relief but there was no way to identify who they were. All the better for her.

"Good. You made it back, where are the other two?"

"Gone," the man beside her hissed angrily, "Got them both."

The others swore and she saw agony on several of their faces. It bespoke of closeness and friendship, making her heart clench in guilt.

"We keep going," The decided leader spoke again, "Jax, Rein, you're staying in tomorrow tonight, Bird, Lei, and Callex will go tomorrow. We need more scrap metal, we're not done building."

"Is this really worth it? We're losing men!" Callex exclaimed harshly, "You promised us gold but I'm not seeing anything but a half-built weapon!"

Rinoa watched the Leader tighten his fists in anger and stalk towards Callex, "Shut it! I'll get the gold when the weapon is finished! I'm going to detonate all of Trabia and just imagine what you'll find in THOSE ruins.

"We'll see," Callex said darkly.

Looking at the room she could see heaps of the loot they had taken, and shrouded in the back was a lumpy object, most likely the item of current topic. This was huge, a second detonation would obliterate Trabia and kill hundreds. She would have to go tomorrow and warn Zell and Kerei of what was going to happen! But that meant creeping out without them knowing, and being able to find her way back…

Rinoa gritted her teeth and mentally smacked herself. She was a SeeD now, wasn't she? Didn't her friends make these choices, these dares, all the time? Did they complain? Did they show weakness? Of course not. This was part of being SeeD, belonging with them, being prepared to face the danger. Adrenaline surged through her at the thought. She had an opportunity to come home as a hero with Zell and Kerei.

It seemed, now that she thought about it, that _this_ was what she had been hoping to achieve. Respect. Something she wouldn't get by dating the commander, it was something she had to _earn_. A small pout crossed her lips but she fiercely blocked the incoming wave of self-pity. It would be hard but she would just have to do it.

OoO


	10. Chapter 10

AS10

Another flawless meeting. Quistis put down her papers and yawned sleepily. She wasn't about to admit to anyone that last night she had been plagued by nightmares of getting caught and thrown into a capsule to be the next experiment on the list. Thank Hyne for Irvine, had he known how terrified she had been, surely he would have lost all his respect for her. Quistis Trepe scared? Never.

As they sauntered down the hall, surpassing shivers as they walked past the room with the hidden experiments, Quistis caught the frown on the cowboy's face and decided to ask him about it later. The man had surprising intuition and every now and then he'd mention something she had missed.

Michelle opted for a nap before they'd head for lunch, giving Quistis the opportunity she had wanted to knock on Irvine's door. He let her in wordlessly, used to such random visits.

"What's on your mind Kinneas?" Quistis asked, leaning up against the wall of his room,

"Worried about Selphie," He confessed, drawing raised eyebrows from her, "Oh I know, I'm an ass, but I still love her like a best friend,"

Quistis pursed her lips slightly and measured him. The pain was sincere, and she didn't really have to wonder if he meant it. Irvine cared quite vividly about people though he didn't always admit it.

"The mission she's on will take her thoughts off it," Quistis shrugged, "Selphie is a survivor, you know that. Nothing keeps her down for long."

Irvine sighed and flopped back on his bed, looking at the ceiling.

"I know, and I guess that worries me too. Selphie…you know, she doesn't really need anyone. You think Squall is cold and independent? Nah, not at all. Squall _needs_ people, at least _someone_ to affect him. Selphie? Hah. She generates her own happiness. She goes off in her own little world and only invites in people if she feels like it."

"So then she'll be fine, she's not going to cut you off, Irvine," Quistis sat down beside him and wrapped her arm around his waist, "She really loves you,"

"I hurt her so badly," He whispered, bangs hiding his eyes from her,

"You did. But Rinoa hurt Squall, and Squall's hurt me, and it _happens_, we get over it,"

"You over it?"

"Completely," and it wasn't a lie, Quistis felt nothing but a gentle affection for the commander now,

"You lookin' for someone new?" There, it was out.

Quistis looked at him from the corner of her eye and arched an eyebrow. He met that gaze, held it, but had to cave in after a few seconds of penetrating blue.

"Perhaps."

A slow smile curved across his lips and he was pleased to see it quirk up slightly on Quistis' generous mouth.

"We have a mission to do Kinneas. And we need to get our information fast." She stood up and exited like a cold winter breeze.

OoO

"It absorbs your energy and filters it into the air," Nida recited from his computer screen, "…I spoke to Kadowaki about the attack and she suggests that those entities might be eating the particles of energy, subatomic feeding, she said,"

"So that's why it came out the first time. When my ankle hurt I was expending more energy to keep myself up," Selphie shivered,

"Exactly, seems like it draws on pain, fury and ah, lust," Nida turned faintly pink,

"Lovely," Squall commented quietly.

Selphie sighed but forced a smile on to her face. They knew what they were up against now, at least.

"So! We've got our findings, can we go back to Balamb?"

"No," Nida echoed her sigh, "They want samples of the fruit, a chunk of the crystal, the leaves, everything they can get."

Squall looked miserable at the suggestion but Selphie was trying to work out a plan. There had been that one day when they had entered and nothing had been amiss. What had been different about that day? It was so hard to figure out since both times she had ended up being under the seduction of the nectar.

She brought up day-to-day reports of the area on her techtop and scanned them for any pattern. Temperatures had barely varied, no weird sightings, but then…suddenly the pattern was clear as day.

"Weather," She chirped happily, "The day we went in and nothing was wrong was the one sunny day we've had,"

"Think it makes a difference?" Nida asked sceptically,

"Yeah!" Squall looked enthused, "Remember, that cave is lit by phosphorescence, external light would just drown it out, but when it's raining and overcast, the cave is dark, the lights come on and reflect in the crystals and that's what triggers the plants and the perfume."

They all grinned in response and Selphie felt her heart lighten considerably.

"So we go in on a sunny day, bring some masks with us just in case, snip some plants, break some rocks and head on home! Whoo hoo!"

The grin Squall flashed her took her breath away and he even ruffled her hair affectionately, making her stick her tongue out at him and wink.

"So when is the next sunny day?" Nida asked,

"Um, let's see…ah… … in three days," Selphie winced.

The two men both smacked their foreheads in exasperation at the news. Nida sat back and sighed, his brown eyes looking dismal.

"What do we do for 3 days?" he asked,

"Let's hunt mushrooms," Squall shrugged, "Waste time in the forest. The BioMech lab chose this area for a reason, there's got to be something else here."

OoO

Squall found her the next day throwing rocks into a river. The rain was sheeting down outside but because of the trees they didn't feel the brunt of it. Sitting on a huge boulder with her back against another, the little brunette had built a collection of pebbles beside her and was flicking them out to watch them splash further and further away from her.

He found a smooth-backed rock and expertly sent it skipping, making her turn and look at him in mild surprise. Climbing up to her he sat down, not disrupting the pebbles that rested between them, and nodded at her gently, sending water drops from his bangs trickling down his face.

The pile of pebbles was slowly disappearing. Selphie wasn't conscious of it until her fingers groped for one and encountered nothing. She had lost track of time again, musing in her past and present. The forest was every shade of grey and green, nothing else, all of it muted and coated with the slick sheen of water. It was both serene and depressing, but then, she had always favoured a life with colour.

"Are you okay Selphie?" Squall asked quietly, not looking at her, his sharp features facing forward into nothing,

"Yeah," she shrugged, feeling like a little girl as she crossed that narrow gap between them and felt his wet jacket brush up against her bare skin, "I'm okay."

Silence descended. It wasn't comfortable, it was suffocating. Selphie felt the burning desire to speak, to say anything. Her lips parted but she didn't know any words to voice. Her and Squall had nothing in common.

"I don't miss her," Squall whispered, breaking the tension, "I thought I might, I guess I did for a day. But you can't really miss Rinoa, she's not really a person yet."

Selphie let the words sink in and nodded quietly. It was true, Rinoa tried to be like someone else, she was unsure of where she stood. Her best feature was her desire to live, her determination to do so, even though currently her life held no form. It was that redeeming quality that had lured Squall in the first time.

"She's an amoeba," Selphie decided.

She wasn't prepared to have Squall burst into laughter at her proclamation. Her eyes widened as she stared at him, head tilted back and a brazen laugh echoing out. It was contagious and she giggled.

"I mean it! Don't you think so? She could become anything but she can't decide so she stays a blob!" She said earnestly, coaxing more laughter from the stoic man.

He shot her a wicked grin and pulled her close to him, keeping his arm around her and chuckling softly.

"Only you would compare the princess to a shapeless entity of goo,"

Selphie giggled again and rested her head on his shoulder. They were both soaked, neither cared though. It was the first time in a long time that she felt relaxed, and when she really thought about it, she couldn't even remember how many days it had been since Irvine left. Squall was distracting her and she had a feeling she was doing the same for him.

"You know…these past days I've been feeling a lot better," She said warmly, "Well, the days that I can actually remember,"

"Yes," He mused quietly, "I'll still be glad to go back to Balamb again,"

"Oh for sure!" Selphie exclaimed, "I'm going to plan a little 'yay everyone's back!' get together,"

He laughed softly, "I figured,"

"It's going to be so much fun though! Zell can tell me all about Trabia and how it's going and we can make fun of Irvine because we all know he sucks at diplomacy! Quistis can get to brag about how awesome she was, 'cause she's always awesome like that and we'll get to tell them all about our mushroom hunting, even though, so far, there have been no mushrooms. Oh, and well, I guess we can't reeeeally tell them everything because that'd be kinda bad but we can tell them a little. Yeah."

Squall laughed and shook his head at her, "That's the most Selphie-like you've been in ages,"

"Well you haven't laughed in just about as long," She countered impishly,

"I haven't had a reason to," He retorted, then he softened and his eyes rested on her for a moment, "I've missed you."

Tears threatened to build up. Squall had missed her? All this time she had dismissed him, thinking he cared for no one. How wrong had she been, how irritated she had been when she had seen him moody and depressed, and then how she had understood that, and now, embracing it,

Leaning forward she pressed her lips delicately to Squall's and was rewarded by the arms wrapping around her.

OoO

Oookay. So, I don't usually update if reviews have been scant or nonexistant, I can't tell if it's lagging or just disinterest. I was going to do two updates before I went home but with the lack of attention I think I'll just do the one and see if anyone surfaces. Merry Christmas guys!


	11. Chapter 11

AS11

'Really? Wow, that's pretty neat," Michelle beamed at a man from behind huge clear goggles.

They were inside a lab, peering at poisons and antidotes that had been applied to various specimens, plants and small critters. Michelle ached to see the animals in those states but she had been quickly assured that there had yet to been a death, or even severe injury. Only mild temporary poisons were tried, and their make up antidotes were soon followed. _Of course_, she reflected sadly, _they might just be saying that to encourage my support_.

While they openly asked questions and the scientists answered, Michelle couldn't help notice the crowd that Trepe had gathered unwittingly, just by breezing through the room and asking a few intelligent questions right off the bat. She was glowing and making eye contact with every single man there, nodding when appropriate and looking as if she actually cared about everything they said.

Well, she was an instructor, so maybe she _did_ care.

One of the men was the same scientist who had introduced himself to them days before. Michelle studied him carefully under her eyelashes, _Malach_, yes he gave her a strange feeling when he rested those green eyes on her. That wasn't often, he seemed as attracted to Quistis as every other man in the room.

"It's a core component in our studies," He was saying now, a smile on his lips, eyes absorbed in the SeeD instructor's,

"I see, which explains the other mission for the fungi hunting," Quistis nodded and adjusted her glasses, "Makes complete sense, wonderful planning."

He basked under her approval and Michelle shivered. Turning back to her own educator she listened with only half-interest and wished desperately that the final day would come and they could go home. As she was led into a second room to see the tanks and biospheres where the plants were grown she became aware that neither of her companions were following.

"Oh, excuse me, I really shouldn't―"

"Don't worry," The man soothed, "They'll come through the other doors, this room is huge."

It didn't reassure her in the least but Michelle followed with lips pressed together so tightly they were white. Rows of tanks concealed much of the room and her grey eyes flickered in every direction to try and get a grasp of the layout while the man lead her through the maze. He was offhandedly mentioning names and origins, effects and counter-effects as he went but she had stopped listening ages ago.

Quistis was on a similar tour but instead of plants she was looking at the geological components of rocks. Her first thought was confusion. A rock was not an organic creature.

"The organic part is what lives on the crystals," Malach explained, smiling at her, his dark hair falling over one eye as he looked down at her,

"What lives on them?" Quistis asked, eyes widening as she peered into an aquarium,

"These are strange creatures, they grow to massive proportions but start out so tiny we need microscopes to study them. They collect energy and feed off it, any energy will do, and one of the elements contained in these crystals is―"

"Phosphorescence?" Quistis asked, looking up speculatively,

"Yes!" He laughed in open amazement, "Quistis, please don't mind if I call you by your first name, how did you wind up a SeeD when you could be such a brilliant scientist?"

She flushed under the praise and smiled wanly, "One right answer isn't enough,"

"No, but, still!" He laughed again, "They feed off the light at first, as they grow they feed off new things, bigger things, until they could take on animals if they wanted to,"

"Hmm," Quistis mused, "So it feeds off the energy of living creatures, the result of that would be fatigue?"

"One of them, the creature secretes a liquid that sinks into the soil, giving nearby plantation a new scent to its nectar or leaves, the scent drives animals into frenzies of anger, lust, euphoria, and that's how the creature feeds off them, it extends tentacle-like appendages and the molecules of energy are collected," Malach smiled openly at her, clearly as fascinated as Quistis was,

"Amazing, but what happens to the animal?"

"If it can't escape the area it will eventual become exhausted to death, but the effects are very situational, and because it's scent it's dispersed through the air and can be very weak. Naturally we're seeking to concentrate that into a pellet or bomb, it would launch the scent, and the spores of the creature, into an area and drain the energy out. Useful in that it works like a sleeping gas but it can't be filtered out through a mask, it'll go right through your clothing," Malach's arm slid around her waist and he steered her to a new table, "This is what we've made so far."

Quistis studied the bullets and launchers with care. These men had gone to great amounts of work. The weapon had to be ranged in order to not affect the person detonating it; it had to be small and easy to manage. It had frightening potential; just think if it ever ended up in the air conditioning vents and left to grow.

"Have you ever tested it on bigger animals, like, humans?" She asked hesitantly, looking up into his eyes,

"Humans?" He looked surprised at first, and then thoughtful.

She held her breath and waited as he seemed to be battling inner demons inside himself. As his lips parted and he was about to get his answer, footsteps strode up and Malach's jaw snapped shut.

"There you two are!" Michelle's relief was obvious and her escort raised his eyebrows at Malach,

"How long were you going to stay here, Malach? We need to get on with it," He said, he was smiling though,

"Right, yes, this way." Malach looked a bit tense but his arm had never left Quistis' waist and now he propelled her into a new room with Michelle following.

This room was dark and had gentle black lights that lit just enough to see by. Quistis frowned and squinted a little to try and make out was in the room but suddenly Michelle bumped into her and both of them stumbled forward.

"Eek!" Michelle squeaked and crashed into a table, "Turn on some lights! I can't see anything!"

"Are you all right Michelle?" Quistis recovered her steps and turned around.

Malach and the escort were in the doorway, blocking it. Michelle stood up slowly and turned to them, her entire body stiff.

"I really hate to do this to you," Malach said sombrely to Quistis, and with that he shut the door.

Quistis swallowed hard, and as the room was plunged into bitch blackness a faint blue light began to grow. Her heart pounded and she watched crystals in the room gently light up, pulsating softly.

"Q-Quistis?"

"This isn't good for us Michelle," Quistis whispered as she watched the light cast shadows on a dark hole in the wall, "We might want to restrain ourselves and find somewhere to hide,"

"Restrain ourselves?" Michelle squeaked, "Quistis, what's in there?"

Quistis told her and the purple-haired woman gasped in horror. They found nothing useful in the room, only a table that they both knelt underneath, hiding in as much darkness as they could.

"If we had a light, we'd be okay," Quistis said fitfully, "And we don't now what they did to Irvine! He better be all right,"

"He has to be," Michelle said shakily, "We're not getting out without him."

OoO

Kerei and Zell both sat in the camp with glum spirits. Neither of them had any clue as to where Rinoa was or if she was safe. Neither of them had expected that she'd be the one to go, and when they were being honest with themselves, neither thought she could pull it off.

"I really hope she gets back soon," Zell said, his chin resting on the palm of his hand, curled up against the wall of their shelter,

"Me too, I was hoping I'd be able to go," Kerei sighed,

"Heh, I wanted to be the one, not that I doubt you or anything, but…" Zell trailed off uncomfortably.

Kerei's aqua eyes rose up and met his cerulean ones squarely, "But what?"

"Well, ah, I don't know how t-to say it," Zell started glowing red, and Kerei's heart skipped a beat.

In the middle of their camp, would this be the moment she had longed for? Kerei swallowed and watched him, aware that her chest was alive with heartbeats, each one slamming painfully against her ribcage. She licked her lips and waited, breathless. All year she had strove to be his equal. Mastered every task he gave her. Excelled in anything he wanted her to. Oh, Zell…

"You're…you're…" Zell choked and turned scarlet,

"…Yes?" Kerei bit her lip, oh Hyne wouldn't he just say it?"

"You're my best student ever and I'm just so proud of you I don't want anything to happen!" Once that was blurted out Zell sucked in a deep breath.

Her heart plummeted and she found herself spluttering, "Wh-what?!"

"You're my best student, Kerei," Zell sighed, "You're an instructor's _dream_ student, you think I wouldn't be upset if something happened on your first mission out?"

Well, one thing was for certain, it was not a middle of the camp romantic situation like she'd hoped. Kerei felt crushed but at the same time, wryly amused with herself for thinking he was interested in the first place.

"I guess, but I'm completely competent," She protested gently,

"Except for those dive attacks, when we get back to Balamb I'm drilling you on those," Zell pointed to his head gingerly and laughed.

She laughed to. She had to laugh. Here she had thought Zell Dincht had been in love with her. What a fool she was.

OoO

Irvine couldn't see Quistis or Michelle and alarm bells were ringing inside his head painfully. Tripping out of the tour he sprinted down the halls, only to realize he had no idea where he was going. Trepe was the one who had memorized the paths. Not him.

"Damn it!"

He swore and looked around wildly for somewhere to hide. Above him lights began to flash in an alert. Swearing violently Irvine began to jog down the hallway he was in, keeping his eyes out for anything.

And then a miracle appeared. Panels along the wall flipped open to reveal emergency exits and guides on where to go depending on what situation. He righted himself immediately and looked for an exit close to where their dorms were. Once he had figured out the layout he set out in a dead-run. He needed to get to his Techtop and he needed to contact Balamb.

OoO

Hope everyones' Christmas was as enjoyable as mine was.


	12. Chapter 12

AS12

Squall strode down into the cave with more confidence than he had felt in a long time. They knew this trip down would be harmless, and it showed in their buoyed steps and spirits. Leading the party inside they immediately split up and lit torches, keeping the cave as light as possible, and went about their work with cool professionalism.

With a small hammer and pick he chipped away the crystal base of a palm-sized chunk and gently broke the crystal off the cave wall without shattering it completely. Without him knowing he was humming a tune from weeks back. His lips were curved into a smile. It wasn't until he caught a stray look from Nida (utterly perplexed) that he realized what he was doing.

_Admit it, Squall, you're feeling warm and fuzzy._

I am not!

_Yeah, you are. You know you are._

Fine. …Whatever.

Nida looked askance but after catching the glare from the Commander he snapped back to attention. Squall hadn't worn that dreamy look since the day they finally returned to Balamb safe and sound with Rinoa hanging off his arm. In fact… Nida shot a glance to Selphie.

"…Yeah, yeah, yeah…." She was singing off in her corner, plucking flowers out of the foliage.

Nida swallowed. Something was terribly, terribly wrong. Squall was humming and smiling. Selphie was rocking out while she was collecting samples. Okay, on second thought Selphie _would_ rock out while picking flowers, she had just been so down lately he had forgotten how buoyant she could be.

Why was everyone so damn _happy_? They had been attacked by tentacles, Nida had the sinful feeling that he had taken advantage of Selphie and she wasn't in the least bit aware of it, he was _positive_ Squall had done the same and he _knew_ her ankle wasn't completely better so why was she _dancing_ on it? Nida turned to the wall blushing crimson and feeling left out. Was he missing something? Belatedly he wished he had been in the same group as Quistis.

OoO

"Argh!" Quistis snarled and kicked the door in a frenzy of anger.

They hadn't gotten themselves restrained. Luckily, the immediate flash of anger that assaulted them was directed at their captors and both women had taken to beating the door with anything that came into their hands.

"I'm going to snap his neck! I'm going to tear off his scalp and slit his throat that bastard! That insignificant bloody scientist and his glib little tongue!" Quistis seethed, her blue eyes full of fury,

"I'm going to fucking castrate him!" Michelle shrieked, kicking the door hard enough to add another dent.

The table was in pieces already; it had been the first thing they had thrown.

On the other side of the door stood several very pale scientists. Having been listening to the crashes and curses for nearly an hour, with neither woman seeming to tire, they were rightfully wondering if perhaps the crystals were not working as much as they'd hoped.

Of them, Malach was perhaps a bit more pale than the rest. He had backed furthest away from the door and was trying to figure out where the calculations had gone wrong. He glanced at the aquarium with the crystals inside, and back at the door.

"Oh…oh….Hyne…" He felt sick.

"Malach?" One of the men asked nervously,

"The plants. There's no perfume, they're not going to lose energy quickly at all and that is not a scent-induced rage," He tried to still his churning heart,

"So, what you're saying is that we just locked two SeeDs in a room and they're going to be just as awake when we open that door as when we shut them in there?"

"Essentially."

There was a deathly quiet around them, punctuated by the ranting and violent sounds of the two SeeDs. Malach backed away further and then bolted out the door. He had to get out of the lab before Quistis found a way to break down the door.

OoO

Irvine was also running, and though he didn't know it, he and Malach were both running for the same area. Xu had been livid when she found out what was going on and the Ragnarok was hurtling for him with every step he took. He had grabbed only what he needed out of their dorms, the confidential material and a few of the belongings of Quistis and Michelle that he didn't think they'd want to leave behind.

Skidding around a corner, Irvine smashed straight into two scientists, eliciting shrieks of surprise all around. Irvine hopped away and pulled out Exeter, whirling on one foot and wasting no time in letting loose a volley of bullets.

"Eat lead!"

Sprays of blood washed the walls but Irvine would be long gone before it dried.

The entrance barely looked different from any of the other hallways in the building. Grey metal everywhere but a relieving splash of blue sky could be seen through the windows in the doors. Irvine dashed for them, shooting down two more guards who were caught by surprise. He burst out the door and…

"Mike!"

"It's MALACH!" The man yelled at him furiously, "Don't even think about it, sniper!"

Irvine swore as Malach dove into the front seat of an all-terrain vehicle and launched it into motion, kicking up an enormous cloud of dust as it sped away. His thoughts were broken though by the screaming sound of a massive aircraft blasting in for a quick-pick up.

"Xu you wonderful, wonderful woman!" He crowed, running for the open hatch as she set the ship in a hover.

As he scrambled inside he turned slightly and looked back at the lab. He desperately hoped Quistis and Michelle could hold out for a day or two. He knew they wouldn't be outright killed, he just hoped they wouldn't be transformed into SeeD-sized fungus-men. Irvine shuddered and then rushed for the pilot seat to talk with Xu about how much backup they'd need.

OoO

Rinoa crouched in the darkness. She could see the figures of the other men and possibly women crouched around the underground holding, all of them silent in the darkness, waiting for evening to approach. Callex was closest to her, hunched over and radiated a grim aura. Biting her lip she slid over and looked at him quietly before nudging him with her arm.

"You wanna take this evening off?" She whispered, hoping her gender would be disguised,

"I don't know," He whispered back, "I want to get this over with but…my friends are dying and I don't know how much more I can take,"

Rinoa's mind raced, she had to convince him to let her go. Suddenly inspiration struck.

"Lissen, one of those bitches hit me something fierce, I wanna get her back, teach her not to mess with me, teach _them_ not to kill my mates. If you're unsure about it let me take your place!"

"Jeeze, Jax, didn't know you had it in you, you've always been so quiet," Callex sounded both surprised and suspicious,

"…I've been thinkin' about what you said, about how long this has taken us…" Rinoa felt her heart slam against her chest, couldn't he just _believe_ her?

"It's true, this is plain idiocy now. We needed a home before but we won't be able to just build one with whatever's left after he detonates the bomb. This place will be crawling with authority."

Rinoa flinched at the thought of the dead, the days it would take them to pile the wreckage out of the way, the feeling of desolation and loss that would assault the survivors, if there _were_ any.

"Let me go, Callex," She whispered in a plea,

"Fine, take it on Jax, I could use the sleep."

Rinoa breathed a sigh of relief and then squirreled her way to the front of the room. Her hands were shaking she was so scared but her mind was in a deathly calm now that she had come this far. She would memorize the route, and look for the same landmarks she had seen on the way there, then, when they hit the camp, she'd contact Zell and Kerei and pretend to have a nice heroic death at the hands of her friends.

OoO

"They're coming," Kerei hissed, her pale eyes bright in the firelight as she slipped on a pair of gloves,

"Good, I can't take this sitting anymore, it blows," Zell grumbled.

They knelt down and watched in silence, the inky blackness made things incredibly hard to decipher. Kerei squinted and then widened her eyes but all she could see was grey and black. Frowning, she looked back at Zell who was having similar issues.

"I swore I heard footsteps…" He muttered,

"You did."

Both martial artists whirled around to see the gunpoint of a man in black. Zell wasted no time at all, whipping out his left leg into the man's knee violently and wincing when the gun shot rang through the air. A feminine scream of pain nearly shattered his heart when he saw Kerei huddled over, shuddering.

"Kerei!"

"I'm okay, look for Rinoa!" She sobbed quietly but wiped her eyes with the back of her hand violently, the other hand clutching her shoulder where a deep stain was beginning to flow.

Zell couldn't describe the agony of seeing her in pain, but he did as she asked and silenced the man with the gun, and broken knee, with vicious quickness. He snarled quietly as he heard more footsteps and saw the other two men running up with weapons drawn. One of those figures was lagging ever so slightly, presenting him with a clear target. Doubling up his fist he leapt out of the shelter and sent his punch careening into the man's face, growling in satisfaction at the sickening wet crunch that followed.

"Zell!" Rinoa launched herself into his arms and he held her steady, ripping off her mask and holding her tightly,

"Hyne, Rin, I need your healing magic _now_, they got Kerei!"

She broke away from him and stumbled to Kerei's side, holding the younger woman steady as she gathered her magic to her. Zell paced back and forth until Rinoa sagged forward in exhaustion and Kerei raised her head looking dazed.

"We're getting into Trabia, think they'll send others?" Zell asked sharply,

"There's not many left," Rinoa said sadly, standing up shakily, "We have a couple hours at least until they figure out something is wrong. The leader wants to detonate Trabia for good, something about precious loot in the ruins, I think I remember the way back,"

"Good."

Zell stooped over and picked up Kerei gently, holding her cheek to his chest and jerking his chin to the broken building of Trabia. They jogged inside, assaulted by the warmth and half a dozen startled faces, but when the news was out Trabia soldiers and students housed them quickly and immediately called Balamb.

As he collapsed into a chair in his room Zell picked up his radio and lifted it to his ear wearily.

"Zell, we have a problem," Xu said immediately,

"Yeah?"

"Quistis and Michelle have been detained in the medical lab, we haven't heard an update from Squall's team, I've got Irvine, but we need to get back there _now_ and rescue our SeeDs,"

"Rescue them? What happened to the diplomacy?" Zell snorted,

"We think the lab has been kidnapping emissaries and using them to experiment their latest line in organic warfare weaponry. Irvine escaped but not before he saw Trepe and Michelle be thrown into a room of some sort,"

"Hyne!" Zell added a few more colourful cusses before Xu cut him short,

"You and Rinoa are being dispatched, we'll keep Kerei as further backup, I'm picking you up in 4 hours, so get ready."

She hung up with a click and Zell sighed, running his hand through his hair. After this mission he'd be ready for some quiet time.

OoO

OoO

Okay, maybe it's the backlog, but Chapter 11 didn't show up in my alerts until a full week and a half after I'd posted it. This is getting a little frustrating for me.


	13. Chapter 13

AS13

AS13

"I don't care! You NEED to dispatch someone to prevent those SeeDs from leaving the forest!"

"How many men do you think I have? Have you any idea how many people I've lost trying to pull off this scheme of yours?"

"If you don't do it the entire lab is going down, no lab, no payment, no dust, it's your choice."

Teeth ground together in frustration before a heavily built man slammed the radio on to the desk in a fury. The plan was not going as it should. Trabia was still standing, Malach had abandoned his post in the Biomedical Lab, and the three SeeDs that were supposed to be knocked out and left in the cave until pick up were very much conscious. Growling in frustration he whirled upon the rest of his team, all sitting hunched over in the remaining barren spots of the underground hideout.

"We have a problem," he said tersely,

"We've HAD a problem for awhile," Callex snarled at him,

"Yeah? Well it got worse. The Payer of this little excursion caught himself some prey that is too hot to handle, he wants us to move out to those caves we caught the emissaries in and grab a few more SeeDs,"

"What about Trabia?" Rein asked suspiciously,

"Fuck, I don't know! Jax and the others are over there, we can't detonate it tonight if we tried,"

"I want to know what's under Trabia, why are we wasting our lives for this?" Callex demanded,

"Settle down, Callex," The Leader snapped, "some precious treasure for the Payer, and he's willing to give us a lot of money if we secure it for him,"

"I don't know if it's worth a lot of money now," Rein argued, "we're risking our lives for this,"

"You said you were in, in the beginning, and so we're going to follow through," The Leader ordered, "Let Jax and the others handle Trabia, you two are going to the woods and roping yourselves a few SeeDs, you need to move fast, the Payer seems to think they'll be leaving soon,"

"You mean they're not subdued?" Rein glared at him frostily, "How do you think the two of us are going to detain three able-bodied SeeDs?"

"THINK of something!" The Leader shouted, "Just do it! I don't have time for this! I'm going to meet the Payer and for Hyne's sake I'm going to demand more pay, so just move your asses OUT there!"

Callex leapt to his feet with a curse and stalked out, jerking his chin in the direction of the passageway to Rein who followed him, radiating hatred at the Leader.

"Fine mess you've gotten us into," She spat.

OoO

It was a clear morning that woke up the SeeDs in all their various locations. Zell's team landed in Balamb Garden sleepy-eyed but ready to be dispatched immediately after re-packing and delivering their reports. Xu was tenser than Zell had ever seen her before, no doubt because it was her personal friend who was in danger, and Cid looked a little grey as well.

Slinging his pack over his shoulder the martial artist raised his eyebrows at Irvine and sat down next to the Cowboy while they waited for Rinoa.

"So? What are we up against?"

"I don't even know," Irvine sighed, "All we saw were a lot of scientists, but this is a Biomedical Lab experimenting in organic weaponry, who knows what they have stashed in there. We saw men in tubes…ugh…not even _men_ anymore. Hugely disfigured, growing…plant material all over them…they were hunched over, I don't know how tall they are,"

"And there's a chance that Quistis and Michelle are now like this?" Zell swallowed,

"Could be, I don't know, when I realized what was happening I split for the exit to get backup," Irvine said bitterly, a flush on his cheeks,

"Hey man, you did the right thing," Zell shrugged, "You couldn't get past that many people,"

"No, I couldn't," Irvine admitted, "I'm just worried. Michelle's a greenie practically, and Quistis _thinks_ she can do anything, but no one is THAT good."

Zell gave him a gentle punch on the arm and stood up as Rinoa ran in looking a little flurried.

"Well?" Zell asked her,

"Squall's team should be arriving in an hour," She said breathlessly, "Xu sent one of the smaller ships out for them,"

"Great, more waiting," Irvine sighed and hung his head.

OoO

Quistis woke up and winced as she eased her cramped muscles out of the curled up position she had fallen asleep in. Across the small room from her she knew Michelle was awake and no doubt still glaring at the door. They had taken shifts that night, neither wanting to risk both falling asleep.

"Anything?" Quistis asked sleepily, stretching out her muscles,

"Nothing," Michelle replied glumly.

Quistis stood up and crossed to where the crystals pulsed in soft blue light. She had caught on later that without the organic material to release the sickening scent, the crystals were harmless. Now that she knew she was safe she appreciated the gentle blue light emanating from them.

"They have to let us out sooner or later," She said softly, "They wouldn't keep us in here, and even if they run, Irvine is out there somewhere, he knows where we are, and he'll get us out,"

"Yeah," Michelle agreed, though she sounded dispirited,

"Get some sleep Michelle, I'll wake you up if anything happens," Quistis turned and walked back to where the dented door stood resolutely in their way.

Sitting down she leaned against the walls and sighed quietly. They were both ravenous with hunger and weak from thirst, all they had left was hope. The Waiting Game was the worst one out there.

OoO

Squall yawned and eased himself out of his bedroll. Nida was already up and packing his samples and so Squall joined him, the two men working quietly together. They were set up to leave in an hour for Balamb, most of the camp had been taken down the day before but they had left some last minute packing to do for the morning. As the glass vials were carefully placed in foam-lined cases, Selphie woke up and stretched her arms into the air with a smile.

"Mmm it'll be good to get home," She said cheerfully.

The two men agreed and moved over so she had room to pack her own belongings. One by one the cases were filled and then stacked outside as they took down their tent and arranged everything into bundles.

A faint mist was falling from the sky as they trucked out the gear from the forest and dropped it into the fields in another neat pile. Squall glanced at the sky and then his watch and ran a hand through his hair.

"They'll be there," Selphie offered,

"Yeah," He agreed, still looking troubled.

They only had to wait fifteen minutes before a black speck in the sky emerged and then flew into view. Selphie beamed up at one of their little cargo fliers and waved the cadet inside down to the field.

The ship landed and the back doors opened slowly, letting a ramp unfold to the ground. Selphie hauled up her pack and climbed inside to find a spot to stash it when she heard a gunshot rip through the air. Alarmed by the two shouts that immediately followed it she stuck her head out of the ship and was amazed to see two figures running towards them, both armed.

"What in Hyne…?" She asked,

"Get down!" Nida was yelling, urging Squall to get behind the ship and use it for cover,

"We need the samples safe first!" Squall hissed, grabbing two cases and bolting for the hatch,

Selphie screamed at him as another bullet whirled through the air. Squall awkwardly leapt into the ship and winced, looking at his arm where the bullet had grazed the leather on his jacket and split it open. Selphie swallowed; that had been too close for comfort.

"There are still more samples out there," Squall told her, pressing his back against the hatchet and chancing a look outside, "Damnit! They're going for them!"

Both Selphie and Squall launched themselves out of the ship and tore across the field, zig-zagging furiously to avoid being hit by one of the gunmen.

Ripping her nunchakus off her back, Selphie darted into battle and caught the gunmen off-guard, swinging fiercely and slamming one of the lethal ends straight into his chest. The momentum knocked the man off his feet and she followed through by pivoting and sending the other half of the weapon whizzing over his head, a quiet reminder that he should stay still.

Meanwhile, Squall had reached the other person, a woman by the looks of it, as she bent to grab one of the cases. Her masked face glared up at him and quick as a wink she had her gun pointing straight at Squall's head.

"Fire at him and your friend here dies," Selphie growled, one foot on the man who lay very still.

The woman didn't take her eyes off of Squall, one hand rested on the case, the other was rock steady and aiming at his slate-hued eyes. No one moved.

"I wouldn't do that, if I were you," Nida said silkily, stepping back out into view.

His longbow was stretched to the fullest, and aimed at the woman. Selphie relaxed mentally, but kept herself ready for battle. The woman snarled and suddenly reversed her aim, pointing it at Selphie and pulling the trigger.

Squall shouted and arced his gunblade instantly, slashing the woman straight across the chest right as Nida's arrow embedded itself in her back. Selphie screamed and lost her balance, her eyes flinching shut as soon as she saw the gun pointed at her.

It was pure miracle that the bullet ricocheted off of her nunchakus and didn't plant itself in her ribs. Selphie had fallen backwards in her shock and swiftly counted her lucky stars while Squall grabbed the man she had been guarding and roughly hauled him to his feet.

"You're coming with us," He said, his face white with fury,

"Rein…" the man hunched over in the agony of loss.

Nida helped Selphie up and wrapped an arm around her shoulders, leading her into the ship before going back to collect the gear. He pulled the mask off the dead woman after everything was inside and took her picture with frown of distaste. She had been a beautiful woman, but living a dangerous lifestyle. Her wavy auburn hair spilled over the ground and her face was screwed up in pain.

Turning away with a leaden feeling in his heart, Nida signalled the cadet and they took off.

OoO


	14. Chapter 14

AS14

"Irvine, Zell, Rinoa, Squall, Selphie and Nida you will return to the Biomedical lab, your orders are to free SeeDs Trepe and Feilan, find any incriminating evidence you can and dispatch anyone who gets in your way," Xu ordered crisply, "I want weapons, plans, samples, everything."

The SeeDs saluted and pivoted off. Nida, Selphie and Irvine were going to find the evidence and be part of the dispatch committee and Squall, Rinoa and Zell would do their best to free up Quistis and Michelle. They all loaded into the Ragnarok with grim faces and belted themselves down.

"What can we expect in there?" Zell asked Irvine,

"It's basically a metal maze, several stories high and one exit that I know of. Quistis and Michelle were last seen in a small room inside a laboratory full of tanks and small-contained experiments, they might have moved them, I don't know. Bring rations with you, they might be weak with hunger," Irvine said glumly,

"Bastards," Zell growled, "I'll be happy to smash a few skulls,"

"What about Trabia?" Selphie asked worriedly,

"Xu was going to send a team over to raid the hideout Rinoa found, she said we didn't need to stay there any longer until they had found a more concrete lead," Rinoa told her, "There were less than five people when I left them,"

"Doesn't sound like they needed a SeeD for there," Irvine nodded, "This is more important,"

Selphie nodded reluctantly, wondering if they'd feel the same if it were their old school, but she didn't argue the point. Leaning back in her chair she let her mind wander as the Ragnarok glided gracefully through the air.

They arrived at the Biomedical lab before noon, and there they were dropped off in all haste. Squall jogged up to the frosted glass doors and tried the handle, finding that it was locked as expected. He stepped back and waved his hand at Irvine who simply raised his arm and pulled the trigger of Exeter.

The lock exploded and the door swung open ominously, allowing the six SeeDs entrance. They paused in the foyer, each noting the peculiar silence. Irvine frowned and stepped forward, looking at the walls with a perplexed expression.

"There used to be posters and notices in the front, you don't think…surely they haven't had the time to…"

"They _stripped_ the place?" Zell asked incredulously,

"Split up, let's go." Squall ordered, waving his gloved hand at Rinoa and Zell.

The three of them picked a hallway on the left and dashed off while Irvine, Zell and Selphie took one to the right and followed Irvine's lead. Footsteps echoed in the metal hallways as each team pushed further into the darkened lab.

Irvine took his team through the maze, pausing once at the guestrooms but finding his key to the door no longer worked. Flinging the useless card to the ground he jerked his head and took them deeper, intent on finding the room with the plants and men in tubes. He remembered the way easily and destroyed the lock on that door as well. Pushing open the door he was immediately tossed into the wall behind them, eliciting a shriek of surprise from Selphie and a sharp curse from Nida. The creature that lurched out of the room was immense.

Selphie stared at seven feet of walking foliage. Thick rubbery skin coated with a waxy sheen rippled with corded muscles and tiny leaves and vines scrawling all over the surface. The eyes were plainly human and glared angrily from above a gaping maw filled with sharp teeth. The arms were out of proportion, as thick as Selphie's waist and swung to and fro with agitation.

"Back up! Fight it in the hallway!" Irvine yelled, dashing to the left of the doorway to get in ranged combat.

Nida had already jumped several paces back so he stood on the right of the creature, his longbow out and notched while Selphie, their only melee fighter, launched herself into battle.

The creature grabbed at her, throwing her into the wall and pressing her into the metal surface while she struggled in its grip. Nida let loose a volley of arrows that peppered the beast's left side, causing it to roar in pain and swell in size. Selphie dropped to the ground when it flinched in pain and managed to roll to one side, jumping up and letting her Strange Vision tear gashes in the creature's hide. Irvine aimed carefully at its tiny head, one eye closing before he got his chance. One shot, and it was over. Selphie breathed a sigh of relief as she watched it slump, green ooze leaking from its wounds.

"That is one tough weed," She commented,

"Yeah, and it used to be human," Irvine said regretfully, "There's probably another one in there,"

"Let's get it over with," Nida encouraged, "I doubt they like fire magic and I have plenty drawn."

Irvine and Selphie nodded, stalking into the heavily forested room and grimacing at the stench of rotten vegetation. Instead of the humid environment that Irvine had expected, it was cold and dark within the room.

"This isn't right, they must have turned off all the environmental controls," He whispered,

"Come on," Selphie plunged into the dead foliage, eager to be done and out.

They found the second beast and discovered that Nida was quite right; fire was the most useful weapon against them. It took more than one casting to actually set the beast alight, and the screams of pain were nearly more than Selphie could take but it was over quickly. When they reached the back of the chamber the two empty tubes were still there.

"The machines are off and I believe they've powered down the entire building," Irvine said irritably, "We need the information inside these though,"

"I can take out the hard drive," Selphie shrugged, kneeling on the platform and inspecting the casing.

Nida helped her and together they retrieved several pieces of the computer, stashing them in the small packs they wore. All three of them were quite happy when they left the eerie room, and Irvine directed them towards the rest of the experimentation labs.

OoO

Squall stalked in and out of every room they found. So far offices, guest rooms, dorm rooms and storage rooms had all been looted and cleared. He suppressed the urge to growl in frustration but kept going. Any room could hold Trepe and Feilan now and he didn't want to make the mistake of overlooking them. Behind him Zell and Rinoa walked quietly, none of them bothered speaking for they hoped Trepe would have the sense to make some noise.

"You know," Zell ventured, "they may have taken them elsewhere,"

"The thought occurred to me," Squall replied tiredly.

He stopped in front of a door with a tiny glass window. Glancing into the gloom it was impossible to make anything out so Squall stepped back and shot the lock, and dismantling the door so they could get inside. They took our flashlights and scanned the room, seeing rows of empty shelves and tables. As they strode in deeper, Squall noticed the storage rooms in the back, and in particular, one door bent out of all recognition. Hastily he waved Zell and Rinoa over. They all stared at the door, the lock was jammed, and the pins on the other side were bent horrendously.

"Left to die…" Rinoa whispered in anguish,

"But they won't be dead yet, only dehydrated," Zell argued quickly,

"We need to take down that door," Squall said firmly, "I wish Selphie were here, she has Ifrit."

"Shiva can freeze it," Zell pointed out,

"I know, I wanted Ifrit to heat it up, and then I'd use Shiva, no metal door could withstand that violent a heating," Squall sighed, "I'll try anyways."

Shiva exploded into the lab, causing frost to race across every surface as the temperature dropped. Her diamond dust shot up the doorframe and coated the door in a thick layer of ice. With narrowed cobalt eyes, the Guardian Force clenched her fists and shattered her icewall, watching in satisfaction as the door cracked down the middle. The two halves thundered to the ground and as the spray of ice chips settled and Squall came back to himself he saw Rinoa's flashlight uncovering their two friends, passed out on the floor inside the tiny room.

OoO

OoO

So it has been a LONG time. I have to admit, I'm feeling a little resentful at how much university prevents me from writing for pleasure. I had notes on where this fic was going, and lost them, twice, I've written out NEW notes and will hopefully place them somewhere safe. I'm 3 chapters ahead but, haha, it's not like I'm updating often. I'm really sorry guys. I've read and re-read this fic several times to familiarize myself with the characters but it has been literally a decade now (I think) since I played FFVIII and so you might notice the world getting a tad OC.

It's hard to keep my motivation though, I think Emerald Storms really took the entirety of my fanfiction creativity. I'm still so pleased with how it came out. I've read that one a couple times again as well and I don't think I can outshine it. At least, not with April Showers. I'll try though.

The direction of this fic is about to start moving a bit more quickly, I think. I'm pushing it into familiar territory, and I won't tell you exactly what that is, but I'll give you a hint! I'm studying health in university right now, it's my last year, and I'm specializing in substance abuse (addiction) so this is going to get a little chemical, a little illicit, and Irvine and Michelle are going to have some fun. But not for a chapter or two!


	15. Chapter 15

AS 15

Things were not looking up. Oh, sure, they had rescued Quistis and Michelle, but the only reliable data the SeeDs had collected was what Irvine had grabbed on his way out. The hard drive that Selphie and Nida had recovered was wiped clean and even the plant-material taken from one of the corpses hadn't had enough genetic coding for Kadowaki to be able to prove that it had once been a man.

Michelle and Quistis were both in the medical ward with numerous tubes feeding them nutrients while they slept, oblivious to the frustration and fear around them felt by their companions, Cid, Xu and the doctor. Kerei was recovering from a shot that had collapsed her lung, only Rinoa's perfectly-timed heals had kept the young fighter up. No, things were not looking up.

"So." Irvine said pensively, fingers crossed in front of his face as he leaned forward, elbows on the table of a meeting room,

"So," Zell echoed, "What have we got, and what do we do?"

"We don't have much," Rinoa replied glumly, "in the shelter all I learnt was that there is a Leader, and a Payer. We don't know yet if they've subdued the Leader, and we have no idea who the Payer is. We don't know what they want under Trabia, and Trabia hasn't mentioned that they've got anything worth taking!"

"Selphie?" Irvine asked, glancing at her from under the brim of his hat, "know anything about it?"

The short brunette gave a half-shrug and exhaled slowly, "Under Trabia? I don't think there IS anything under Trabia. Unless…"

"Unless?" Zell prompted impatiently,

"In the first big crash…maybe the lowest levels of Trabia were plunged underground with the force of impact, that'd make sense. The lowest floors were just chemistry labs though and a few engineering bays," Selphie frowned thoughtfully,

"I don't want to see another chemistry lab for the rest of my life," Irvine growled, "but…hey…I mean, you don't think…?"

"That there's a connection between the Biomech lab and the chemistry labs under Trabia?" Squall's head jerked up, "we have no proof,"

"We have no leads," Rinoa pointed out,

"You don't remember what any of those mercenaries attacking Trabia looked like?" Irvine pressed,

"No. I remember the names Callex, and Rein, Bird, Lei, and Jax, but Jax is dead," Rinoa ran a hand through her hair in frustration,

"What about that man we captured?" Nida blinked, sitting up straight, "we haven't questioned him yet,"

"You caught someone?" Rinoa and Zell asked, curiously,

"Two people, a man and a woman, tried to take us down on our flight out of the forest," Squall informed them grimly,

"If he's one of the men that we've faced before I'll recognize him," Rinoa stated,

"You won't recognize the man if he came from the Biomech lab though," argued Irvine, "we'll go together, between the two of us, if we know him, we'll recognize him."

Squall nodded tightly and waved his hand in the air, indicating them to leave. Rinoa and Irvine slipped out quickly, leaving Nida, Zell and Selphie to sit in a quiet silence.

"How is Kerei?" Selphie managed after the ringing silence got too loud for her nerves,

"She's fine," Zell sighed, "just taking too long to heal for my liking,"

"Quistis and Michelle will be up soon," Nida added, "so even though we're down three…by the time we have a lead that we can act on they should be up,"

"Yes, and maybe Quistis can tell us more about what happened to her," Selphie agreed, "We can work with this, we can do something."

Squall didn't bother pointing out any number of the set backs they had faced, for the look of relief in her face was too precious to lose. They had been through enough, let her be optimistic for once.

OoO

"I've missed you," Irvine said haltingly to Rinoa as they strode down the corridors,

Rinoa flushed at his side and glanced up at him, wondering what had prompted his statement, "It's been pretty crazy," she agreed,

"That was really magnificent, what you did back there, very brave, Rinoa," Irvine smiled slowly and wrapped an arm around her shoulders,

"I was scared stiff," Rinoa admitted, her long black hair falling forward and obscuring her face, "I just wanted to do the right thing, the…the admirable thing, so that everyone would know I mean to be a SeeD,"

"We never doubted you," Irvine blinked at her, "everyone takes to it in their own time, we were just letting you get adjusted,"

"Considering my past, I know _some_ of my teachers only thought I was a spoiled princess," Rinoa said haughtily, "but I _can_ act and do things, just like everyone else here,"

"Of course you can," Irvine agreed, smiling more broadly at her stubborn smile.

They breezed down several floors to where more SeeDs had been stationed, carefully guarding the detainment room that had been reserved for the captured man. Irvine and Rinoa flipped their ID to the SeeDs present and then braced themselves before entering the small room, lit by a single lamp suspended from the ceiling. The only furniture present was a bed nailed to both floor and wall, and on it sat a man with his head in his hands, not even bothering to look up at them.

"Well? Have you anything to say for yourself?" Irvine asked after they shut the door behind them.

The man looked up slowly, his eyes full of anguish, anguish that Rinoa _knew_. She felt her heart constrict and unconsciously took a step backwards as the emotions impacted into her.

"Callex? C-Callex?" She asked hesitantly,

He shot to his feet immediately and only Irvine's Exeter prevented him from going any further. Widened eyes glared at Rinoa accusingly and Callex pointed a thick finger straight at her.

"You! You're…you're…Jax. Jax, why would you do that to us? How could you do that to us? They killed Rein! They killed Rein, Jax!" Callex looked like he was about to weep,

"I'm not Jax," Rinoa whispered, "I never was, I stole his uniform,"

"So you killed Jax?" The thunderous growl made Rinoa back up further,

"As if you're one to talk?" Irvine hissed, "How many people do you think you were going to kill, detonating Trabia? And for what? What would that bloodbath have accomplished!"

"It would have given us a home!" Callex shouted, "you think we liked livin' in a cave? All smashed together like that? Oh yeah, it got real comfy after you thinned the numbers on us, but you think we wanted to stay there?"

"Then why did you?" Rinoa cried, "Why would you agree to do all that?"

"We had to, there was nowhere else to go!" Callex fell back on the bed and wept openly, stunning Irvine and Rinoa to silence.

Rinoa looked at Irvine helplessly and shrugged her shoulders, unsure of what to do. Irvine took a deep breath and regarded the broken man in front of them, similarly at a loss.

"Callex…be reasonable, surely you could have gone somewhere, what was your barrier?" Irvine tried in a more gentle voice,

"What city is going to house a bunch of kids with Shimmer Stone Dust?" Callex asked bleakly,

"Shimmer Stone Dust?" The SeeDs asked in unison, blank-faced,

"Haven't heard of it? Well, that's not my problem," Callex hissed, "more for those of us who have. Get out of here, I'm not talkin' to you anymore, just leave me alone."

True to his word, Callex wouldn't utter another word, he stared desolately at the wall until Rinoa and Irvine left.

"Well…" Irvine said slowly, "we know that the group by Trabia was the same group that instigated the attack on Squall's team, and then there's this Shimmer Dust,"

"Irvine did you see the way he looked at me?" Rinoa asked in a small voice full of uncertainty,

Irvine paused and wrapped her up into a hug, "Don't let it get to you Rin, he's unbalanced, and he's more of a murderer than any of us, there's no justice to what he does," Irvine soothed,

"B-but…I just feel…" Rinoa's eyes filled with tears,

"Rinoa, hush now, doll. Come on," Irvine led her back up the stairs and down the corridors to his dorm, "let's not think of this for awhile."

OoO

OoO

Author's Corner:

So, in the beginning I said a second pairing not yet disclosed. True to my nature I didn't actually have anything planned. What are the thoughts of my readers? Any particular pairing that would brighten your day? I'm not breaking my Squall and Selphie, of course, but I'm open to ideas.


	16. Chapter 16

AS16

Quistis blinked wearily in the lighted lounge room and sagged gratefully into the nearest couch. Selphie extended her arm and gently curved it around the blonde instructor's shoulders, giving her friend a little hug and cuddling up next to her. Papers were strewn across the table in front of them, Kerei and Michelle rifled through them aimlessly while Zell's eyes glazed over completely with fatigue.

"How is it there is some THING out there and we have no record of it?" Irvine asked in disgust, throwing down a stack of newsprint,

"Nothing here either," Squall growled, adding a few articles to the increasing blend of white sheets obscuring the table top,

"House dust, rock dust, gem stone dust…nothing in here that mentions shimmering dust though," Quistis sighed, "it must be slang,"

"Great, so let's go round us up some teens and grill them until they cough up what shimmer dust is," Zell smacked his fist into the palm of his hand,

"How about not," Rinoa shot him a dirty look, "I'm not going to be responsible for giving a bunch of kids bad ideas,"

"Black market shopping then?" Kerei asked, her aqua eyes wide,

"We may have to," Quistis agreed, wrinkling her nose, "I'd rather not be part of the team that goes and does that,"

"Irvine can do it," Squall replied, ignoring Irvine's exclamation at the news, "we'll send him to Dollet to mix with the locals, now, who should go with him…"

"I'd like to," Michelle volunteered, "I'm a native of those parts,"

"Good," Squall caught eyes with Quistis and she began writing names down, "now, in the meantime, we need to get into Trabia and do some investigating. Cid can obviously get us in but I think Selphie is the most practical choice since she has some connections,"

"Agreed," Selphie nodded, "I'd like Quisty to come with me too,"

"Sounds reasonable," Squall agreed, "all right, that takes care of dust and Trabia, what else…right, BioMech lab,"

"Finding out where that brat, Malach, went," Michelle said darkly,

"Good luck with that, scour the lab more closely, see if anyone has gone back there, look at buildings near by…we have no leads for you," Quistis informed them apologetically,

"We'll make do," Zell promised.

XxX

Mixing with the locals. Irvine exhaled slowly and let his eyes adjust to the dim light of the club he had slid into, having no luck on the streets. Michelle was ahead of him looking right at home, her hips curving with the beat as she toured deeper into the music-filled room.

The dancers and club-goers were largely of their age group though Irvine caught sight of a few older men and women, wearing hungry smiles and slipping small twists of paper into the hands of kids with cash. He grimaced. Alcohol and perfume clouded together in his nostrils and shrugging off his trench to the doorman, Irvine went to mingle.

Okay, they were on a mission, it was true, but after a few drinks and with the tunes ringing right, Irvine found himself submersed with so many beauties and all that revealed skin, tight clothing…

Michelle spun, her long violet hair whirling around her as she ran her hands down her body, enjoying the admiring looks cast in her direction. No man would try her tonight though, not with Irvine grinding so closely behind her. Of all the missions thus far this was quite possibly the most fun, but perhaps she had had too much to drink?

Nah.

Winking playfully at Irvine, Michelle yanked him closer and made a biting motion at him, giggling as his eyes widened and a look of new interest appeared. She wrapped an arm around his neck and pulled him down so she could yell in his ear over the roar of noise.

"I challenge you Kinneas…to a dance-off!" She yelled,

"You're on Feilan!" Irvine grinned, looking particularly fox like.

Bodies were pushed away as the two SeeDs embarked on far more important matters than Dust. With styles equally unique Michelle and Irvine spun, went down, jumped, twisted and ground together in a blaze of speed while onlookers cheered and began to take bets.

Soon both gleamed with sweat but the game was not over, they had lasted seven songs and neither wanted to quit. Hands clasped and entwining limbs, Michelle flipped over Irvine's arm, landing breathlessly and laughing in delight as he twirled her and caught her as she let herself drop. Licking salt off her lower lip Michelle sauntered a step away and closed her eyes, letting the music carry her away, ignoring the ache that was starting to creep up her limbs.

Irvine hadn't had so much fun in a long time. Michelle danced as if she were part of the music itself, all of her moves were different, all flowed perfectly together, she fairly well sparkled in happiness as he strove to enter her perfect rhythm. Heat radiated up from the floor and the lights played over the shimmering sheen of sweat on their bare limbs as the two SeeDs abandoned reason to fling themselves into the beat.

The night deepened.

In a tangle of sheets Irvine fought to sit up. His head felt clouded, telling him he hadn't quite woken up yet. A protest near his knee confused him even more until Irvine managed to open his eyes. The hotel room. Michelle was lying across the bed parallel to the pillows while he was stretched out how someone would normally rest on a bed. No wonder the sheets were tangled. Both of them were fully clothed and Irvine was just wondering how they even got back when—

"Ow…" Irvine realized he hurt. All over.

"Nng?" Michelle's drowsy voice asked him before one luminous grey eye peered at him, then it widened, "Oh Hyne…I feel like I'm on fire."

Irvine groaned as he sat up and heard a cacophony of pops and cracks from his back, hips and knees. He suddenly felt old. Michelle rose slightly after, trying to untangle the jewellery she had worn in her hair, wincing even at the simple movement of putting her arms above her head.

"Well, I'm sure we've done stupider things," Irvine told her apologetically,

"Sure?" Michelle asked him suspiciously, "I mean, I can barely move, much less fight, after dancing straight for, what, six hours?"

"Something like that," Irvine gritted his teeth as he stood up,

"What's that in your pocket?" Michelle asked curiously, reaching forward and snagging a piece of paper out of the back of his pants,

"Eh? I don't know," Irvine blinked, pulling off his hair tie and running his fingers through the shower of brown tresses.

Michelle frowned and unfolded the packet carefully, eyes widening before it came fully apart.

"Irvine, did you meet a drug dealer?!" She gasped,

"Uh, I don't think so?" Irvine blinked and leaned over her, "What IS that?"

"I don't know, it looks like any powder to me," Michelle bit her lip, "you didn't lose any gil over this did you?"

Irvine swore and instantly groped for his wallet. Then he swore again. Michelle winced and patted his hand awkwardly.

"Well, uh, this dealer of yours must have been impressed, he's left you a contact name," Michelle smirked,

"Good, I'll find him and get my gil back," Irvine retorted sourly.

Michelle smiled and shook her head, climbing out of the covers and biting back a cry of acute pain. She shook her head ruefully and then called dibs on the shower, hoping scalding water would ease the sore muscles. Squall had never given them a time limit, and Dust was probably going to be around for some time, a quick detour in plans wouldn't hurt and they might need Irvine's cash in an emergency.

OoO


	17. Chapter 17

AS 17

Quistis watched with a smile on her face as Selphie bounded across the courtyard and tackled some of her old schoolmates. They had arrived at Trabia that morning and both were eager to get to work. Selphie secured their presence with a light cover story about fortifications and planning suggestions for neither SeeD wanted to mention Dust. The reconstruction of Trabia Garden was slow going, mostly due to its remote location but Quistis was pleased to see the second floor was almost entirely cleaned out and walls were being erected. The second floor, however, was now the first floor, and all that remained of the first floor was the courtyard they now stood in. Quistis pursed her lips, wondering how many classrooms had been driven down into the earth after the missile attack.

Selphie returned, a little breathless, and took Quistis' hand, dragging her along the fragmented courtyard. They peered inside one of the hallways currently under construction and with a quick backward glance, slipped inside the roped off area. It was dark inside, no wiring had been done and one of the walls had yet to be completed. The open side of the hallway was covered by a tarp and kept the SeeDs from view. Following it down they could see numerous doorways leading to nowhere, simply open slots cut in the walls for where future classrooms would be located.

"Are they redesigning it to be exactly how Trabia used to be?" Quistis asked Selphie in a hushed voice,

"I think so, they have all the blue print plans from when Trabia was first established so it makes sense to use them," Selphie replied fondly, "so, this first wing was all the theory classes, what we want are the labs and hands-on area,"

"If it still exists," Quistis nodded, "and if we can find remains of the labs on the surface then we know they weren't buried and our tender little lead will be gone,"

Selphie bit her lip, "I know. Of course, if it turns out something else was buried we could have a new lead to go off of,"

"That's true," Quistis mused, "that's very true."

The hallway curved around forming the perimeter of Trabia Garden. The two women tread as quietly as they could, pausing to glance into doorways and gauge by the size of the cleared space beyond them what sort of room the slot could become. As they progressed the cleared spaces became less clear and heaps of refuse and junk could be spotted pushed away from the construction.

"There!" Selphie hissed suddenly, grabbing Quistis' arm.

Quistis jerked to a stop and peered through a doorway. Scattered on the snowy ground outside Trabia's newly forged ring was a heap of garbage and a little sign tacked beside it.

"'Warning, may contain hazardous and chemical materials', brilliant Seffie," Quistis beamed.

They crept outside, both conscious that they were now back in sight of anyone who chose to walk a lap around the ruins. The heap of junk was a promising sight, smashed vials, locked containers bent hideously out of shape, tattered manuals with chemical formulations and broken protective gear made up the bulk of it. The two SeeDs poked around long enough to establish that the materials here definitely belonged to a previous chemistry lab and then set about to find where all of the junk had been collected from.

As she stepped around the heap Quistis became conscious of the texture beneath her boots. They were walking on snow but the ground beneath it did not feel solid at all. Kicking the ground she uncovered more rubble and pieces of boards that had been laid around to keep the ground as even as possible. Frowning, Quistis knelt and tugged at some of the plywood, hoping to shift it enough to see what it covered up. She was rewarded when enough shifting produced the old floor of Trabia's second story and dozens of holes punctured straight through it to the floor below. Waving Selphie over they worked together to shift enough strips of wood and sheet metal to give them enough room to wiggle down.

Down below the ground it was pitch black. Flicking on tiny flashlights Quistis and Selphie remained where they had dropped down and scanned the ruins before setting out. It became obvious at once that they were in a lab, long tables, broken and twisted, were scattered everywhere creating a metal jungle for the SeeDs to navigate. More shattered glass twinkled as their lights passed over the floor and charred remains of wooden cabinets sagged against the old walls. Quistis walked slowly, the ground was uneven and covered in dangerous materials, while she scanned the old walls. Nearly hidden from view she caught sight of a salvaged ladder, propped up against a desk and leading back towards the surface. Intrigued, she stalked forward to investigate the area.

It seemed to be where the teacher would have sat. A large wooden desk, now ruined beyond repair, balanced the ladder precariously, its surface scuffed and charred. A twisted chair was toppled behind it and the remnants of paper peppered the surrounding area. Quistis followed the ladder's ascent with her eyes and realized someone had constructed a little trap door, likely for carting anything worth saving out of the classroom.

Selphie joined her moments later and peered up at the ladder as well, "Well it's nice that they left it here, makes it easier for anyone to pitch in and help the cleanup crew, right?"

"It is," Quistis agreed, "let's see where it comes out."

Selphie held the ladder steady as Quistis climbed upwards and unlocked the trapdoor. She pushed it open slowly and squinted in the barrage of sunlight. Peering out she frowned, twisting on the ladder so she could see all around herself. She scampered up the rest of the way and then leaned down to help Selphie climb to the surface.

"Huh?" Selphie asked, looking as bewildered as Quistis has felt, "we're outside the wall, we're outside of Garden completely,"

"Not only that," Quistis pointed out, "we're beyond even the construction ropes. If you were on a salvage crew you'd have to carry whatever you'd grabbed around the new hallway until you found a door, go inside and walk _back_ the way you came to deposit it. There's no access to the spaces they've allocated to new classrooms from the outside, you have to get there from that one hallway,"

"You're right, it's all boarded up and the one solid wall they built for that hallway is to keep people on the outside from getting in. I don't like this," Selphie growled,

"So someone built this little trap door so they could grab materials without anyone seeing them," Quistis glanced down towards the shadowed lab,

"What would they want in the chemistry lab though? I don't think we carried anything that useful down there," Selphie protested,

"We could always ask the teacher," Quistis smiled sardonically,

"Quistis, you're brilliant!" Selphie gasped,

"I wasn't being serious," Quistis laughed at her,

"No! We have records of the teachers and where they went, we can find the teacher and ask him! Maybe they were doing some sort of research here, and what if that research had to do with organic chemistry or crystal-based organisms?"

"You're right, I am brilliant!" Quistis exclaimed, "Let's double back and get to that classroom with the centralized computer system,"

OoO

Michelle swung her purse to and fro as she sauntered alongside Irvine. They decided to hit the beach and visit some of the little cafes to see if anything interesting happened once the sun set. Irvine glanced around under the brim of his hat and fingered the little piece of paper in his pocket. All they had was a name, for all Irvine knew it might not even be a drug dealer's, it could just be some kid who had seen them on the dance floor.

The weather was balmy enough that the beach was reasonably crowded. Dollet wasn't a huge town, it had a shopping district but not a main entertainment one. They had rented a car and cruised around the city, sizing up the inns and other establishments that would run after dark and decided the beach might be their best bet. Neither of them knew how long they'd be on the search for Shimmering Dust but both felt it necessary to conserve what money they had, and Michelle hadn't brought too much.

Clusters of young adults draped themselves on the sand or over driftwood and laughter sprinkled the air. Michelle and Irvine took it all in, trying to spot anything or anyone that might contribute to their search. As the sun began to plummet voices grew softer and Michelle tugged on Irvine's sleeve to draw his attention to a knot of people crouching by a group of boulders. A flash of flame and a thin trail of smoke was all they could see before shadowed bodies of youth masked the activity from sight.

"So we know there's a market for something," Irvine muttered,

"Yeah, there always has been," Michelle offered, "when I came back here for the summers there were always bored teenagers hanging out by the docks, they were smoking something but I always assumed it was one of those harmless herbs or cigarettes,"

"The docks, eh?" Irvine mused, "Maybe we should trail down there if we can't find our man here."

The scent of alcohol teased Irvine's nose and he found himself inspecting a cafe further down the sandbank with a lively patio. It looked like there were people dancing with the same sort of boneless grace that only intoxicated people could demonstrate.

"Should we try there?" he asked, pointing discretely,

"Sounds good to me," Michelle shrugged casually, "I've never really had to locate a dealer before so I'll be following your lead,"

"Right, like I have all the experience in drugs and dealing," Irvine drawled and rolled his eyes,

Michelle giggled, "Who are we looking for again?"

"Some guy named Ambrose."

OoO

Kerei edged slowly into one of the lounges in Balamb Garden. Nida greeted her as she sat down across from him and they bent to the task of organizing their research. It seemed like such a tangled process and Kerei was not looking forward to hours of paperwork while her shoulder finished healing. She didn't know Nida very well and the solemn brown-eyed man didn't seem to talk much.

In front of her was the paperwork that Zell had filed out from their mission at Trabia Garden. With Rinoa's help he had catalogued the rebels they fought against, a loose timeline and a summary of what had happened while they were there.

"So." Kerei began hesitantly, "We have a band of rebels fighting to detonate Trabia for an unknown reason, and that same band of rebels has a connection with the strange caves that you, Squall and Selphie found. Two of the rebels we fought ended up fighting your team and we've caught one of them even though he's not speaking,"

"Right," Nida smiled shyly at her, "and the biotech lab that Quistis, Irvine and Michelle went to has something to do with the caves that my team investigated. They picked the site and are researching the creation of strange crystal organisms that feed off of energy when in close proximity to a perfume-bearing plant,"

"Would that mean that the crystal and the plant are in a symbiotic relationship? Or do you think it's all the same organism?" Kerei asked, confused,

"I don't think it can be the same organism, because when the Biotech lab men locked Quistis and Michelle in that room they forgot to put in perfume-producing plant material," Nida mused, "So we have a devious lab conducting unethical studies on humans, and a band of rebels using something called Dust, and both parties have interest in those caves,"

"What we need to find out is if the rebels and the chemists are working for the same team or in competition," Kerei frowned, "we don't have a connection between the two groups do we?"

"Not that I know of." Nida sighed, "And we still don't know what Dust is,"

"We'll have to wait for another update from Irvine and Michelle for that," Kerei shrugged, "I haven't been able to find any mention of it anywhere,"

"Don't you think it's weird that between the nine of us no one has heard of this Dust?" Nida looked perplexed, "I mean, we all have very different backgrounds, how is it that none of us have encountered it before?"

Kerei blinked, he was right, "But...well, what if it's something new? A brand new...something. Maybe it's a disease or something that would, you know, make people be ostracized,"

"I suppose you're right. It just seems like something with as spectacular of a name like Shimmer Stone Dust would kind of stand out," Nida looked disappointed,

"Well, we _were_ all caught up in the Sorceress Wars," Kerei reminded him drly,

"You're right," Nida bit his lip, "I just want us to get to the bottom of this. I have a bad feeling that we're missing something big."

OoO

OoO


	18. Chapter 18

AS 18

Squall, Zell and Rinoa touched down in front of the deserted Biomechanics lab and waved the Ragnarok goodbye. Wind whipped their hair and clothing violently as the massive ship launched back into the air and when the dust settled the three of them headed towards the silent building. The lock was still broken from when Irvine had shot the doors and the three of them slipped inside quietly.

"Oh. Wow," Zell staggered back and gagged,

"It smells like rotten," Rinoa shuddered and covered her mouth and nose with her hand.

Squall sighed and waved them in further. He was getting tired of unpleasant missions, why couldn't they just find some bad guys and cut them to pieces. Simple. They walked down the abandoned hallways, poking their heads into open doorways and slashing locks on doors they couldn't open. Every room had been stripped clean and there was no sign that anyone had returned. The rooms full of plants had been left for dead and as Rinoa had stated at the entrance, all the plants were decomposing sourly.

They trailed into the abandoned laboratory and felt the same disappointment that they encountered in their previous trip. There was nothing, absolutely nothing.

"No one came back here," Zell sighed,

"They must have left in a hurry," Rinoa tilted her head to one side, lost in thought,

"We might still find a hidden cache somewhere, it was a lot of equipment to move," Squall suggested tonelessly,

"What about the floor?"

Squall raised his eyebrows at Rinoa but she looked excited, "I mean, if they were moving things out quickly we might find traces of whatever they were studying on the floor!"

"It's worth a shot," Zell shrugged, "We have those sticky strips, we might find particulate matter."

They bent to the task, unloading their backpacks and bringing out little strips of white material that could be pressed against the floor and peeled off again. Squall took the area closest to the mangled door that had once held Quistis and Michelle, Zell tackled the entrance, and Rinoa concentrated on areas near toppled tables. After an hour of hard work they began to notice crystal fragments and bits of leaf they had missed on their way in. It was a start.

"What about the room with the tubes?" Zell asked when they loaded all the samples into a kit,

"If we can find proof that they're working on humans we could have a case to work on," Rinoa nodded,

"Let's go," Squall nodded.

It was odd, he reflected, to be working with a new and competent Rinoa. She was thinking for herself now, not simply acting. She walked with a sense of purpose and an air of confidence he hadn't really noticed before. Even though she remained skittish in his presence she wasn't being annoying, just cautious. It seemed like the Princess had managed to grow up and figure out whom she wanted to be.

The stench of rotting vegetation was enough to make Squall's head spin. Zell looked visibly sick and even Rinoa was tinged green. Holding back in the doorway they stared inside the darkened garden with hesitance.

"Let's just get it over with," Squall said gruffly, plunging in.

It was gross. Their boots squelched over the material, slippery decomposing juices from fruits made unbearably disgusting noises when trod over and the reek of two dead half-plant, half-man bodies was overwhelming. Hurriedly they made it to the back metal platform and took out sticky strips and some little vials to gather whatever they could find. As Rinoa was tapping a strip against the metal panelling of the dismantled computer she noticed Zell trying his very best to collect a sample without touching it or the vial in his hand. He looked so funny with an exaggerated grimace on his face that she leaned back to get a better view. As she stepped back her boot slipped on some of the vegetation and she went crashing into the back wall with an inelegant shriek.

Her cry bought both the men to her side instantly with fierce scowls on their faces. The moment they reached her relieved expressions replaced the scowls and Zell bent to help her up.

"S-sorry, I lost my balance," Rinoa blushed,

"Easy to do on a floor like this," Zell replied with disgust,

"What is that?" Squall demanded, pushing Zell aside and glaring at the wall,

"Gee, Squall, I think it's a wall," Zell suggested helpfully, earning him an icy look,

"There's a seam, right here," Squall ran his finger down the metal plating and both Rinoa and Zell leaned closer,

"We need better light, one sec," Zell fished out a flashlight and cocked it towards the wall, illuminating the area.

They all stared at the wall in silence, following the seam with their eyes. Without warning, Squall unsheathed his gunblade and pointed it at the wall.

"Squall, don't!" Rinoa shrieked again, jumping back,

"Hyne! Squall!" Zell stumbled backwards as Squall unleashed a shot, slashing at the seam viciously.

It made a terrible noise. The metal tore loudly and the panelling bent where the gunblade had impacted into it. Squall inspected the damage for a moment and then reached into the rent he had created, pulling the panel right off the wall. Rinoa stifled a cry as she stared into the storage space Squall had uncovered.

"Are those...emissary robes?" Zell gulped,

"Yeah," Squall ran a hand through his hair, "Come on, bundle them up, let's go."

OoO

Selphie yawned and glanced across the table at Quistis. The blonde's glasses reflected her computer screen, a blue background with white text scrolling slowly as she read. They both had techtops connected to Trabia Garden's main, and only, communication console system. Lips pursed and brows drawn in concentration, Quistis was completely unaware of her partner's quiet scrutiny. Selphie and Quistis had been friends forever it seemed. They were complete opposites of each other, night and day, introverted and extroverted.

"Quisty?"

Quistis jumped and her glasses slid down the bridge of her nose. Righting them swiftly with a stab of her middle finger Quistis looked at Selphie curiously. The little brunette seemed preoccupied and worried.

"Yeah?" Quistis asked, pushing her laptop to the side so she could actually see more than Selphie's face,

"Do you think…that maybe Squall is better?"

"Better?" Quistis blinked, "Oh. I…don't really know. We haven't spent much time together lately. He certainly seemed _different_ after the trip to the caves though. I read your reports but, Selphie, what happened down there?"

Selphie paused and then launched into a description of their adventure that contained far more details than their original report. Quistis' eyes flared as Selphie described the pool of water at the bottom, and finding their clothes above later on. About seeing Squall climb out of the liquid and loom over her with Nida at his side, at waking up with them days later. She told Quistis about the day in the rain, hearing Squall laugh.

"He doesn't do that often," Quistis remarked critically, "Maybe he is over her then. Is there any particular reason you're asking?"

Selphie turned unaccountably red at the question causing Quistis to grin mischievously, "Oh Selphie, tell me you didn't fall for our commander!"

"Well…" Selphie blushed harder, "He's not what I thought he was. In the caves he wasn't as cold as he usually is. He wasn't cold at ALL you know. We made a good team. And he doesn't try and cosset me or anything. He trusts me to be competent. Irvine was such a gentleman it was just TOO much. I'm a SeeD! I can FIGHT and…and build stuff! I can lead a mission, and kick ass, and do anything HE can do. Well. I can't reach super-tall cabinets but that's IT."

"There is more to life than reaching cabinets," Quistis replied solemnly, earning her a roll of the eyes from Selphie.

They subsided into silence for a moment before Selphie suddenly squeaked in excitement. Leaning over the desk, Quistis stared at the brunette's computer screen and smiled as she read Trabia Garden's old roster. There were several instructors in the science department but it didn't long for them to locate the mastermind of the chemistry labs.

"Instructor Baxtor," Quistis mused, "and where is he now?"

"Seems…like…" Selphie frowned as she followed a series of external links, "The Estharian Medical District,"

"Hm, well, guess we know where we're going," Quistis closed her techtop with a quiet _click_ and stood up.

They left the communication room and headed for their tent. It was late in the evening by now and both were tired. A trip to Esthar could be relaxing, Quistis thought, surely President Loire would be happy to see them. Before she dropped off to sleep she sent a report to Nida and Kerei, who bit by bit were piecing together the situation back in Balamb.

OoO

OoO

I put up a poll if you readers wouldn't mind giving me your input. I have another but figured I might as well ask here: what are your opinions on OCs? Obviously I have several and they are reoccurring in my fanfics (Kerei and Michelle) as well as OC Guardian Forces (Trianon, Serachnid and Psyche). So, do you:

A: I hate OCs and wish you didn't use them.

B: Don't mind OCs in fanfiction.

C: Don't mind OCs so long as they aren't the focus of the fanfic.

D: Enjoy your OCs and won't mind if they are in future fanfics.

Any feedback is appreciated. I don't think I've ever asked my readers' "permission" to have them in the stories. Really, I added Michelle and Kerei so I could have more flexibility with making teams for missions (sets of three). Trianon is a bit special to me, and I was a little nervous about her reception in Emerald Storms but it seemed like people took to her all right.


	19. Chapter 19

AS 19

"You know, when this is all over and the crew is back together we should go chocobo racing," Selphie mentioned reflectively as her and Quistis landed in the Estharian airport.

Quistis eyed her companion, "You _do_ remember what happened _last_ time we went chocobo racing?"

Selphie leaned back in her seat and gazed out the window.

"Ahhhhhhhh! No! Bucky! No! Go right! RIGHT!" Irvine shrieked as his blue chocobo high-tailed it towards an unyielding wall.

_Selphie and Quistis sailed past, still far behind Zell who was clearly going to win. Quistis suddenly lurched forward and nearly toppled over the head of her mount as Irvine's confused chocobo crashed into her after rebounding solidly off the side barrier. The cowboy's hat had been knocked forward and he couldn't see._

"_Augh! Irvine! Watch it!" Quistis squealed, sawing at her reins to keep astride,_

…

_Squall glared at his mount. The chocobo glared back. _

"_Move."_

_The chocobo locked its legs and huffed._

_Around them the starting line was empty._

"I'm sure there's another racing station we can go to," Selphie reasoned, "Zell had a good time."

"Zell won. Michelle and Kerei got tied together with their reins when their chocobos tried to mate. Irvine broke his nose and Squall wouldn't speak to us for days," Quistis arched an eyebrow at Selphie,

"Oh. Forgot about that."

"Yeah."

"Maybe a picnic near Winhill instead."

"Yeah."

Esthar City bustled with life as the two of them shuttled downtown. They cruised through the shopping district with interest but kept their direction focused on the Presidential residence. Neon lights glowed everywhere the eye glanced and the hustle and bustle of civilians created a gentle hum in the background of their shuttle ride. Quistis reclined back, relaxing into the seat as she gazed at the scenery.

It was nice to get away on little two-person missions. The top SeeDs were all very close, a tiny family really, and such closeness grew drama without meaning to. It was not so long ago that Selphie was moping around the halls, disconsolate, that Squall was irritable, Irvine and Rinoa skittish around them all…it was a nuisance, really. Yes, these things did happen, but did they really have to happen so often and leak so…so _messily_ into everybody else? Quistis suppressed a sigh so she wouldn't alert Selphie to her current thoughts.

If she were to be honest with herself she might reason that part of it was jealousy. There was drama and it had never concerned her. Of course it wouldn't, Quistis was always alone. If she were being fair with herself, she would admit that there had been offers, but she had turned them all down. Quistis did not want to be honest _or_ fair with herself though. Her lips pressed together. _Oh, Trepe, this is ridiculous!_ Turning her thoughts resolutely away from herself she pondered Squall's mission. Given that they had already searched the place she wasn't sure what that mission could hope to find. The mission would put Squall and Rinoa together, Quistis wondered if anything would happen there. Privately she didn't want them to reunite. The relationship between Squall and Rinoa had not been a healthy one. She recalled when, in confidence, Squall had told her that he would have become Rinoa's knight had she descended to the life of a sorceress. Blind faith was still blind.

So things might stabilize out if Selphie managed to crack Squall's hard exterior. Unlike Rinoa, Selphie was not so much the eye-catching beauty as the cute little puffball everyone adored. This meant that Squall would likely be attracted to her without the devotion that could choke him. Quistis approved and wondered what she could do to help steer him in that direction.

Beside her in the shuttle, Selphie's thoughts ran a different course. She had transferred out of Trabia a long time ago but she remembered most of the students and faculty. It was hard to believe that something sinister could have been concocted at her beloved home. She wanted desperately to prove it wrong.

OoO

Dr. Kadowaki stuck her head into the lounge where Kerei and Nida had parked themselves. The room was a mess with papers everywhere, two techtops open on the floor, and half a dozen coffee cups planted in various locations keeping reports pinned down. The two SeeDs looked exhausted and had drawn elaborate flowcharts on long strips of paper tacked on to the walls.

"You'll be useless if you don't get some rest," the doctor reminded them tartly as both stared blankly at the door,

"I don't want to leave," Nida replied dully, "we're…we're almost there, I can feel it, it's just out of reach,"

"Indeed," Kadowaki sighed, "I have some of the test material results back, maybe they can help you find that connecting piece of information. If anything, they're interesting."

She tossed them another stack of papers and withdrew from the room, muttering about youth and its foolishness. Nida leaned back into the couch and blinked his eyes to clear away the blurriness as he scanned a few pages. Kerei leaned forward and pushed a few reports to the side to make room for the latest additions.

"Huh. Seems like those rocks in the cave we found weren't rocks at all, apparently they are _shells_," Nida sounded perplexed, "How would shell life wind up in a cave?"

"Well," Kerei mused, "if the water level on the Galbadian continent used to be higher shellfish could become stranded. You said there was water in there too, right?"

"Right,"

"So they would have been able to sustain themselves," Kerei shrugged,

"This is just too weird," Nida sighed,

"Here, looks like Kadowaki found an unknown stimulus in the samples of the dead bodies in the lab, what do you think that is?"

"Could be whatever the perfume is from the plants and crystals," Nida suggested, peering over at her, "let's see if it matches with the water sample that Squall took."

It took some rifling before they found the sample data from the mission but once they lined up the charts and diagrams the resemblance was clear. Lines scrawled across a chart in a multitude of colours presented three clear matches amid a tangle of other stripes.

"So whatever was in the water was part of the transformation sequence, but, well, obviously it couldn't have been all of it otherwise Squall would be a monster too," Nida mused,

"A sedative perhaps?" Kerei asked, gazing at the evidence meditatively, "either way, this gives us a solid connection for evidence later on,"

"True," Nida tossed both charts into the 'for later' pile.

He looked like he was about to say more when the door to the lounge burst open and a harried SeeD looked around before locking eyes with the two of them. Kerei and Nida both jerked their heads up at the intrusion and stared at the man uncomprehendingly.

"The prisoner! He…he just toppled over DEAD!" The SeeD gasped,

"_What_?" Kerei squawked incredulously,

"How?" Nida looked horrified and both he and Kerei upset piles of paper as they lurched to their feet,

"Follow me, Kadowaki is already there!" the SeeD turned and bolted back down the hallway with Nida and Kerei hot on his heels.

When they reached the detention zone they found Kadowaki sitting on her heels, an unreadable expression on her face as she inspected the dead captive. Guards stood loosely around the area, some looking sickened, others maintaining stoic demeanours. Kadowaki was drawing vials of blood from the corpse and checking his body for injuries, a frown slowly creasing her face.

"No normal person drops dead without a reason," she said slowly, "I'll run some tests, clean the cell, take the body out of here, wrap it, and store it in a cooling chamber."

OoO

The captive died on the same day that Squall's team returned from the Biomechanics lab. Kerei and Nida greeted them excitedly, both babbling about the connection between the caves and the mutated men from the lab. Squall held up his hand to stop the outpouring of words and took a deep breath.

"We found some evidence of our own," He informed them quietly.

His tone made the two fall silent with worried looks on their faces. Rinoa and Zell stepped forward and dropped bundles of cloth on to the floor before pawing through them and then holding up two of the samples.

"Emissary robes?" Nida squeaked,

"From Esthar, from the Shumi village, from several laboratories all over the world," Squall confirmed,

"Hey man, I just thought of something," Zell suddenly piped up, looking troubled, "Irvine only fought two plant-men, and we have 14 robes. Does that mean there are 12 more plant-men out there or is this operation combining human DNA and bodies?"

The SeeDs shared equally grim looks at the thought. Squall sighed and ran a hand through his hair. More questions and fewer answers. They brought the robes over to the labs for inspection where Kadowaki informed them that their captive had mysteriously died. Squall closed his eyes in frustration, while Rinoa gasped in horror. Nida suggested they all take a little break and reconvene the next morning and the rest of the SeeDs agreed. There was no point in continuing when they were feeling tired and dejected.

Squall wandered back to his rooms, feeling like he hadn't seen them in a long time. His bed looked horribly unused which reminded him that the missions they had been carrying out were arranged painfully back-to-back. He took a hot shower which partially revived him and removed any lingering plant-stench from his body. It surprised him how much more _human_ he felt after that shower.

Even though he had never been one for socialization, Squall suddenly wished all of the SeeDs could be together and spare a moment to just relax and refresh themselves. The new missions Balamb had been accepting were a far cry away from their usual militaristic liberation movements. He knew that Cid was already developing more detective and critical analysis courses to help prepare SeeD for a broader variety of missions but trying to piece together puzzles required so much _energy_.

Falling into bed, Squall's last thought before sleep took over was a quiet wish that both Irvine and Quistis' reports would come the day after tomorrow, granting them all just one more day to recharge.

OoO


	20. Chapter 20

AS 20

Michelle tried not to fidget in her chair. She was sitting across from Irvine in the back of a high-end restaurant lit solely by candles that were strewn across the tables and flickering in elaborate chandeliers above them. Despite the multitude of tiny flames the restaurant was quite dim. Michelle supposed that if she had come here with the intention of eating and having a good time she would find the atmosphere romantic.

Tonight it just put her on edge.

Despite the plush cushioned bench she sat on, Michelle was straight-backed and tense. Her hands were clenched in her lap under the cherry wood table, twisting her napkin with white knuckles. In contrast, Kinneas was reclining on the curved bench as if his body had melted into the soft velvet. One arm was draped casually along the backrest and the other was stretched across the table, fingers tracing the bottom of his wine glass. His hat was tilted down shading his face but his lips wore the barest hint of a smile.

Michelle bit her lip in envy and nearly asked him how he could keep his cool when suddenly a shadow fell across their table. Jerking her head up Michelle squinted at the stranger. With all the candles behind him and not enough light being shed from their table he was barely more than a silhouette.

"Ambrose?" Irvine asked in a casual drawl, gesturing to a free space in their booth.

The man sat down and smiled at them both. He had very white teeth. He and Irvine launched into idle chit chat while they ordered their food. Michelle remained silent, her tongue felt tied so she mentally committed the man's face to memory. He seemed well to do. His shirt was patterned silk, his hair oiled, curly black but slicked away from his brow. His cheeks spoke of indulgence, but not _over_indulgence. He smiled often and broadly but made no overt gestures. Irvine and he bantered back and forth until the food arrived and all three fell to eating. Michelle reviewed the mission's objectives in her head and suddenly felt her intuition leap. She held her breath, was there a chance that...?

Eventually the topic came up.

"You and your lady friend looked good that night," Ambrose said genially, favouring Michelle with a smile,

"Well, we heard that club was the right place to go if we wanted a good time, and it was," Irvine replied, "Seems it had everything we were looking for,"

"A good choice then. So, what are you looking for now?" Ambrose asked him, the smile still on his face.

Irvine twirled his fork slowly, watching the candlelight glint off the metal, he wasn't sure how exactly to proceed. He knew out of all the SeeDs he was the best choice for this mission, the others simply didn't look the part and he seriously doubted Squall, Zell, or Nida's acting abilities. Still, looking the part had nothing to do with knowing the part, and Irvine hadn't made any illicit drug trade from dealers. Fortunately for him, Michelle surprised them both by deciding to speak up.

"I'm in the mood for something...shimmery," she said in a low voice, wondering if she were right.

Ambrose gave her a long look, his eyes seemed excited but he wasn't giving much away, "That so? Well. I might just have something for you then."

Irvine and Michelle stared at each other from across the table. Had Michelle's guess hit the target?

OoO

Quistis and Selphie grinned at each other when they saw the rooms Laguna had provided for them. Oh, if only their dorms back in Balamb had the same amount of space, storage, and overwhelmingly large beds. They split up to unpack their belongings and reconvened for a brief meeting with Laguna. As per usual, Squall's father was delighted to see them and made arrangements to ensure the women would have everything they needed.

After breakfast Quistis made an appointment to see Dr. Baxter at his medical lab under the guise of a student writing a news article on past professors from Trabia. The secretary Quistis spoke with was pleasant but informed Quistis that appointments for non-medical reasons would have to wait awhile. Reluctantly, Quistis agreed and between the two of them they found an empty hour of time the following week. It wasn't ideal, Quistis reflected, but then again the secretary had a point. Quistis trailed down the hallway to her room to tell Selphie the news and send a quick update to Squall and Nida.

Curling up on her bed Quistis reached for the phone and dialled Squall's number. She listened to the ring tone for a few rounds before a sleepy-sounding Squall answered.

"..Hn..?"

"Good morning, Squall," Quistis answered dryly, "I don't have a full report for you, just a quick update,"

"Er...hn....hey,"

"Selphie and I are going to be delayed for a week, it was the earliest I could meet with our lead over here. I've sent in the necessary paperwork to Nida but if you could let everyone know, we probably won't be in contact again until after the meeting, unless we miraculously stumble upon something new,"

"Ah, all right. Well. I guess you have a vacation for a week then unless we find something you can tackle in Esthar," Squall's voice had regained its usual clarity, "Laguna probably hasn't reached the report I sent him yesterday, but we found Estharian emissary robes in the Biomechanical Lab,"

Quistis grew cold, "That's not good news. I'll try and point it out to him, Laguna might want a piece of this mission which could mean extra funding for us,"

"Money is always a good thing," Squall agreed, pensive for a moment, "Try and scout around the other labs. I want to see more connections between the three cases. We're obviously missing something big,"

"We're missing the Dust," Quistis sighed, raking a hand through her hair and pulling it free of the clips she wore, "somehow Dust fits into all of this. Have you heard from Irvine yet?"

"Not yet, his last report was short and I think he wrote it when he was hung over... ..."

"..."

"Yeah. So. He'll likely fill us in when he has a lead," Squall continued,

"I guess that puts you on a vacation as well," Quistis smiled slightly, "Try and enjoy it, Squall,"

"You too, Quistis."

She hung up and stretched out along the bed, combing her fingers through her hair and wriggling out of her jacket. Stifling a yawn Quistis pulled off her glasses and tossed them next to her hair clip. A free week might be a nice change from the frantic pace they had been operating at. She stared up at the ceiling of her room absently and tried to think of things she could do while she was in Esthar.

"Quisty?" a petite brunette head poked through her door, "Oh! Are you sleeping?"

Quistis turned her head towards the door and shook it sleepily, "No, come in Selphie."

Selphie nodded and slid though quietly. She joined Quistis on the gigantic bed, careful to avoid the glasses and prized hair clip and then flopped down on her stomach, "So, what's the news?"

"Our meeting with Baxter is next week,"

"Next week? That's too bad. I guess the only way to get in quicker would be to pretend we have backgrounds in biochemistry," Selphie bit her lip, "I don't think I could pull that off,"

"I know I couldn't pull that off," Quistis sighed, "It's a pity. I called Squall and let him know, he told me to check around other labs but to otherwise consider this a week of vacation,"

"I like vacations," Selphie smiled, "it'll give me a chance to rest this ankle properly,"

"Is it still bothering you?" Quistis blinked,

"A little, not badly, I cast curaga before I go to bed," Selphie gave Quistis a bright grin, "don't worry about it. Really, it would've been better by now if the mission had ended and I'd rested up earlier,"

"All right." Quistis returned her gaze to the ceiling, "I'm...I'm thinking of going shopping tomor---"

"QUISTIS AND SELPHIE ULTIMATE SHOPPING TRIP!!!"

OoO

For some reason beyond Squall's comprehension, the cafeteria that afternoon was jammed. He held his tray and surveyed the tables for a spare seat but to no avail; all he saw were students. Sighing softly he began to weave through the sea of cadets and juniors while scanning the area for even just a corner of a bench. Why on earth would so many people decide to eat at the same time?

"HOT DOGS!"

_Oh_. Squall rolled his eyes and pointedly ignored Zell as the martial artists sprang a series of flips and cartwheels over students in attempts to cut the line. Squall was about to give his mission up as hopeless and sit on the floor when suddenly,

"Ah, ...Squall? Do you want to sit with me?"

Squall blinked down and realized he had planted himself right in front of Rinoa. Nodding brusquely he sat and honed in on his food to try and ignore the awkwardness of the situation. She took dainty sips of coffee and quietly observed the ruckus Zell was making while Squall wolfed down his lunch. After a fashion the majority of students left and the resulting silence was too loud to ignore.

"So, ah, any word from Quistis?" Rinoa asked,

"Yeah, she's delayed a week in Esthar," Squall nodded,

"Oh! That means we won't have anything for a week either, unless Nida comes up with something or we hear from... from..."

"Irvine." Squall finished for her, glancing up at her to gauge her expression,

"Y-yeah," Rinoa stuttered awkwardly,

"Rinoa, I'm over it. I don't care what you do with Irvine," Squall sighed,

"W-we're not doing anything, not anymore, we're just friends," Rinoa fidgeted, "I'm sorry, Squall. I didn't know what I wanted, that sounds like such a lame excuse..."

"None of us knew what we wanted," Squall replied, "half of us still don't know what we want, it's okay. Really, don't let it bother you. You did really well on the mission," the last came out as a blurt and Squall flushed,

Rinoa didn't seem to notice, "Really? Thank you! I'm trying. I know that I want to be a full SeeD and really be part of the team,"

"From the reports and what I've seen you _are_ part of the team, Rin," Squall managed a smile and stood up, "enjoy your week off, we don't know when we'll get another,"

She rewarded him with a dazzling smile and as he turned away, Squall realized that it didn't even hurt. Not one little bit.

OoO

Irvine and Michelle were once again sitting across from one another. This time they were both sitting straight-backed and white-knuckled and the table they were at was inside their hotel room. Between them was a tiny, perfectly wrapped package. Neither wanted to touch it.

"We're...we're going to have to make sure it's the right stuff," Irvine finally acknowledged,

"Are we? We don't know what Dust looks like," Michelle argued, "We don't even know what the other stuff they gave us was," she jerked her arm in the direction of the first powdered sample they had received,

"We could compare the two," Irvine protested,

"And if they're different we'll have no clue, and if they're the same we _still_ won't be certain THIS dust is the same Dust we need," Michelle groaned, "Irvine, _how_ are we going to get this back to Balamb?"

"Yes, because I have all the experience carting illicit drugs in my luggage," Irvine shot her a dirty look, "I'm not _that_ bad you know,"

Michelle sighed and braided one of her pigtails anxiously, "We can't mail it,"

"We can't take it on the train unless we hide it really well,"

"We can't drive it across the border,"

"We could get Nida to pick us up in the Ragnarok?" Irvine suddenly asked,

"Yes! We could do that," Michelle sighed with relief, "and then _he_ can deal with it,"

"Thank Hyne, I'll go call him," Irvine got to his feet, leaving Michelle to stare pensively at the tiny square of folded paper.

When he returned Irvine didn't look entirely happy. Michelle fixed them both some coffee and returned to the table to hear the updated news from Balamb Garden. Irvine launched into a comprehensive report detailing the findings of Nida and Kerei, the dead captive, Squall, Rinoa and Zell's run through the Biomedical lab and Quistis and Selphie's adventures in Trabia and Esthar. Michelle exhaled slowly after he had finished catching her up.

"Squall said he wants us to find out more on the history of this Dust to see if we can't align it with data coming from Quistis and Selphie. If we can match the first appearance of Dust with a key event at Trabia we might have a more solid lead." Irvine reported,

"The history of it...huh, do you think Ambrose would give that information up? It seems like such a weird question to ask him," Michelle bit her lip,

"I know," Irvine scratched his chin idly, "think you can pull off being a drug keener?"

"...A drug keener." Michelle repeated,

"Well. I'm thinking your cover story could be that you were away at field school, you're a native of Dollet right, so it would make sense that you need to catch up on the scenes," Irvine continued slowly, thinking things through as he went, "and while dear Ambrose is filling you in on what you've missed you could steer the conversation to Dust, but...implicitly,"

Michelle pondered for a moment, "I could try, yeah,"

"Great! Now we just need to get you on a date with Ambrose!" Irvine said enthusiastically,

"...Date?!"

OoO

OoO

In three chapters we get some action scenes, sooo exciting!


	21. Chapter 21

AS21

Nida peered over Dr. Kadowaki's shoulder and grimaced at the corpse in front of them. The doctor was preoccupied, flipping through charts and glancing up every now and then with a frown on her face. Sitting back down Nida sighed and bit his lip. Kadowaki turned and eyed him speculatively,

"I've never seen anything like this," she confessed, "and I really don't care for these results,"

"Is there any doubt? Any chance you might be wrong?" Nida asked hopefully,

"I don't think so." Kadowaki dropped the reports on the side table beside the hospital bed and echoed Nida's sigh, "No, there is no doubt. He died from withdrawal symptoms."

Nida closed his eyes and took a deep breath, willing his mind to stabilize and stop bombarding him with thoughts and questions. He left the lab with Kadowaki on his heels and the two of them sat down in her clinic office away from the body, the chemicals and fluid tests. It was quiet inside the little office and Nida felt immediately better.

"Will you be able to isolate the exact chemical formula that caused this?" Nida asked,

"Oh, I think so, I have a team of chemists on the job already. We're both thinking the same thing: the chemical formula is probably similar to the one we found in the genetically-altered victims, we'll start there and look for matches. If there isn't one...well, we'll see," Kadowaki mused.

She might have elaborated but Nida's phone suddenly rang. Raising his eyebrows he fished it out of his pocket and flipped the top, "Nida here... Irvine? ...Yeah, what about it? Are you sure?! Okay, okay, yeah, I'll come pick it up. Right, see you in a few."

Nida hung up and gave Dr. Kadowaki a nervous smile, "Irvine says they might know what Shimmer Stone Dust is,"

"What? Well, tell me!" Kadowaki exclaimed,

"They think it's an illicit drug," Nida replied,

"That would explain a lot."

Nida rushed out of the office and down to the cargo bay where the Ragnarok was parked. He paused for a moment to admire the ship's sleek beauty. Keying in, and feeling impatient while the ship slowly came to life Nida let his fingers dance over the controls. There was nothing more that he wanted than to pilot any ship or vehicle that Balamb carried. Although Selphie was a dynamic match for his engineering and motor specialties he knew her creative mind was best suited for other situations, leaving him to take care of all things transportation. Recently he had been far more involved in missions than he had expected. It wasn't such a bad thing but, as Nida reflected, he felt so much more comfortable behind the steering apparatus and controls of a machine.

Just before he took off Squall bounded into the cockpit and grabbed Nida's shoulder, "Kadowaki told me Irvine called you?"

"Ah! Sorry, Squall, I guess I got excited," Nida apologized sheepishly, "Irvine thinks Shimmer Stone Dust is an illicit drug, he might have a sample and I'm going to go pick it up, give him a call will you? I completely forgot to update him,"

"Will do. Be careful handling that stuff," Squall said before turning and jogging out of the bay.

Nida closed the hatch and took off. It would be a decently long trip, he would have plenty of time to think.

OoO

After Squall hung up from his call with Irvine he felt slightly more light hearted. They had a lead, they might have figured out what Dust was. If Dust was an illicit drug then they could forge solid connections linking all their questions together. His nearly made it to the elevator and back to his dorm when Kadowaki intercepted him and pulled him into her office. She showed him the data sets and determined cause of death for Callex and effectively stifled Squall's good mood.

"You can die of withdrawal?" Squall asked, feeling a headache coming on,

"Apparently with this drug you can," Kadowaki gave him a penetrating look, "warn the others. I don't know how much you need to consume before your body becomes dependent, I don't want any of my SeeDs becoming addicted to this,"

"I will," Squall closed his eyes momentarily, "This isn't good."

He escaped her office and went straight to his dorm. Once in the sanctuary of his quarters he sat down and began to plan. Quistis and Selphie were probably safe in Esthar, but he'd send them a report to let them know the latest information. Irvine and Michelle were in the most danger but so far both were playing it safe. He'd still have to contact them again. For the short term he could regroup his team and discuss where they were at. With his plan decided, Squall grabbed his phone and made a few calls.

In an upstairs lounge plastered with papers and graphs, their official "mission lounge", Kerei greeted Squall absently as she poured over the latest notes. Zell and Rinoa came in slightly after with packaged dinners from the cafeteria. Amid mouthfuls of food the four of them began to tease apart the puzzle.

"Let's assume for now that Michelle and Irvine are correct and Shimmer Stone Dust is a drug," Squall told them,

"Okay." Kerei nodded, "So. Callex told us that the rebels hiding outside of Trabia were all on Dust."

"And we know that those same rebels have a connection to the caves on the Galbadian continent," Squall offered.

"We know the Biomechanical lab has an interest in the caves as well," Rinoa added thoughtfully.

"Yes. The caves are a source of a chemical compound that has something to do with the genetic transformation or combination of human DNA and plant material," Kerei frowned.

"Under Trabia are biochemical laboratories that might be of interest to the rebels," Zell spoke up, "this would be a lot easier if we were scientists."

"Yes, it would," Rinoa sighed, "but we're not, we're soldiers."

"When Kadowaki isolates the foreign chemicals in Irvine's drug sample we can compare them to the plant and crystal samples we have, that will provide us with a key link," Kerei told them, "so, let's pretend that there is a link, what then?"

"Then we have a link between the Biomechanics lab and the caves...and the rebels," Squall paused for a moment, contemplating what he had just said, "but we still don't know where Dust actually came from,"

"We need a connection between Trabia Garden and the Biomechanical Lab," Rinoa narrowed her eyes, "both locations have access to chemical resources, but that's not enough,"

"No, it's not," Squall agreed, "We'll probably have to wait for Selphie and Quistis to complete that link."

"We're making progress," Rinoa smiled, "I feel relieved."

"I'll feel relieved when we know where Malach is," Zell replied darkly, "think about it, he knows we're on to him, he doesn't know that we've established these connections but as fast as we're making them he's probably out there trying to break them up!"

The room quietened immediately.

"We need to find Malach." Kerei whispered,

"Irvine needs to tell us where Dust came from; Quistis needs to discover what the Biomechanical lab wants with Trabia." Squall clenched his fist,

"We know the rebels were being paid by someone, we don't know who that person is or what their connection is to all of this," Rinoa brought up suddenly, "that could be key."

"Hyne. We're running out of time, aren't we?" Zell groaned,

"We have to wait for the other teams," Squall reinforced, "wait, there is one thing we can do: we can go back to the caves, and we can go back to Trabia and monitor both locations. Malach might head for either spot."

"Should we destroy the caves?" Kerei asked tentatively, "I mean, we know that part of the chemicals have been coming from there,"

"We don't know if they have a means to create them synthetically yet though," Squall replied, "we might need something in there for further evidence as well."

"What about setting up a guard?" Zell suggested, "I don't care if we can't blow it up, but we can't let those creeps get back in,"

"Agreed," Rinoa declared, "we can't let them have access to those resources."

"It's a good idea." Squall nodded, "I'll contact Xu and let her know, Zell, Kerei, set up teams of cadets and arrange them to your satisfaction. Rinoa, contact Trabia and get an update, see if there has been any further rebel activity. We flushed out one hole but that doesn't mean there aren't others. In the meantime, I'll update Irvine and Quistis."

The four of them stood up and filed out, each filled with determination.

OoO

Armed with the knowledge that Dust could be a serious and lethal drug Irvine couldn't help but feel slightly sick at the thought of sending Michelle out with Ambrose. The purple-haired SeeD had assured him she could do it but there had been faint unease in her grey eyes. He remained at their kitchen table with a mug of coffee and an unfocused gaze directed at the tabletop. Suddenly he wished Quistis were here. If there was one SeeD he knew he could depend on utterly and completely it would be Quistis. He had watched her perform in action many times and knew she rarely hesitated and never, ever, gave up her space to anyone. Not that he expected Ambrose to pull a shifty move on Michelle, Irvine found himself smiling, no, that would be a very _bad_ move: Michelle's weapons of choice were very sharp knives, both for throwing and dual-wielding. He had helped her train when she was a cadet, both of them snipers of a fashion.

Still, she was young and looked far more fragile than Quistis. However, Quistis was in her element in Esthar; using her quicksilver brain and Michelle was a native of Dollet, somewhat crucial to the mission. Draining his coffee Irvine stood up and sighed, he might as well do the chores while she was out. Laundry, visit the bank, buy some food..._how entertaining_, he thought ruefully.

Later he would be glad for the excursion to the grocery store. The day was overcast and chilly with wind but the walk through the streets kept him sufficiently distracted. There weren't many other people out, given the time of day they were probably at work, and because of this Irvine found he noticed details he had missed during his stay. For one, there were homeless. Crowded between buildings or huddled against street signs their indiscriminately coloured clothing helped them blend in with the drab greys and browns of walls and cement.

Pausing when he noticed dubious activity down one of the alleys Irvine was caught in a sudden gust of wind that nearly took the hat off his head. His coat whipped around him furiously and he groped at his head in surprise to make sure the hat didn't sail away. Miniature whirlwinds of leaves, dust and scraps of paper swirled violently across the street and collided with his trench. As quickly as it had started the wind suddenly died. Irvine huffed and pulled a leaf out of his hair before dusting off his coat. A stray wrapper was caught in the folds at the bottom of his pants and he freed in annoyance before his eyes widened and he snatched the wrapper back up again.

_Shimmer Dust_ read glittery gold letters in fancy script on pale lavender paper. Irvine frowned at the blatant advertizing, was it possible Shimmer Dust was something different? He pressed the wrapper between his palms to flatten it out and inspected it more closely. From the creases he could tell it used to be a wafer-thin square package. The name was printed diagonally across the front and on the back was an elaborate stamp with so many scrolling curls and flecks it was impossible for him to decipher. Pocketing the wrapper he continued on his way.


	22. Chapter 22

AS22

Rinoa shifted the bag on her shoulder and glanced backwards at the slowly fading image of Balamb through the Ragnarok's view screen. Her stay between mission outings had been short this time, it seemed like she had barely settled back into her dorm before she was up and out the door again. Letting her pack drop to the floor, Rinoa sank into a chair and flipped through the folder of objectives she had been given. It was all simple and straightforward really. She would walk a few laps around Trabia to supervise the rebuilding and check for signs that someone had returned to the old buried chem labs. She would lead a team of SeeD cadets to the rebel hideout and conduct a sweep around the area to see if there were escape routes.

When they touched down at Trabia, Rinoa bid Nida a polite farewell. The young man had been doing a lot of travel trips lately to get them all where they needed to go. He had barely left the aircraft bay when Squall was turning him around to escort Rinoa out into the snowy land of Trabia. Stepping out into the courtyard she immediately reported in and went to find one of the temporary guest chambers. It would be nice to have a room and real bed as opposed to a snowy campout like she had slept in last time.

Once settled in, Rinoa gathered the reports of the previous SeeD team leaders who had kept an eye on the Garden. Deciding that she'd begin her outside work the next day, Rinoa took the thick sheaf of papers back to her room and settled in for a long evening of reading. Curled on top of her quilt, Rinoa spread out a map of the surrounding land and plotted out the paths that SeeDs had covered. She'd go over them again sketchily but focus on finding new routes of traffic. It didn't seem likely that if the rebels were lurking by they'd use the same already-discovered trails and hideouts.

When she finished her work, Rinoa patted the papers back into a neat stack and set them aside, stretching her body out along the mattress and sighing with contentment. Before she knew it her eyes were closing and she fell into slumber.

OoO

"So when was the last time you posted a watch there, then?" Rinoa asked one of the cadets who had been sent by earlier to watch for rebel activity.

"It was awhile back, we tossed in some smoke bombs and when no one came out, figured it was empty," the cadet replied nervously, pinned by Rinoa's intense gaze,

"They might have come back," She mused to herself, "we better go again,"

"Really? There's a lot of land here we still haven't covered," the cadet flushed after speaking up.

_He must be new_, Rinoa thought to herself, aloud she said, "We will conduct new sweeps first and then circle in and run over the old land we've already covered. You three—you're a team, and you three will become another, I'll take you two with me."

The group split up, each with small packs of supplies and maps of their routes. Rinoa breathed in the cold wintry air and smiled. It felt good to be in charge.

OoO

Michelle jerked towards the door as it opened, admitting an excited-looking Irvine. His apparent glee diminished when he caught sight of her and he rushed into their sitting room to stand in front of her. Michelle had put the kettle on and had been in the process of brushing her hair in their living room but she set the brush down on the table beside her and smiled tiredly.

"Well? Any leads?" Irvine asked eagerly,

"A bit, he was happy to tell me all about Dust you know, seems like everyone knows about it and it's really open and out there," Michelle replied, a note of bewilderment in her voice.

Irvine frowned in thought and then brightened, "Maybe that explains _this_ then,"

He handed Michelle the lavender-and-gold wrapper and waited expectantly as she opened it and gasped, turning the small paper over to read both sides. In the kitchen, Irvine heard the kettle begin to boil, he left Michelle to examine the scrap while he brewed them both tea. When he returned with two steaming mugs he set them down carefully and smiled at her.

"What do you think?"

"I think it's amazing," Michelle replied, setting the wrapper on the table between them, "I don't think these people realize it's addictive. I think something is going on here. They treat Dust like a social treat to buy and don't realize it has consequences,"

"Did Ambrose tell you that?" Irvine probed,

"No," she confessed, "he told me that it was a new craze that started a bit after the Sorceress Wars and that everyone enjoyed it. You can buy it almost anywhere but if you want high grade you need a dealer. The thing is, he was really open about the addictive properties of other drugs, but he was tight-lipped about the long term effects of Dust. I couldn't pry too hard or I'd lose my cover."

Irvine nodded sombrely, "Well, if we can buy it anywhere we might be able to figure out who is producing it,"

"There is that," Michelle agreed brightly, "but for now let's enjoy our tea and write a report for our dear Commander."

While Irvine typed up what the two of them discovered, Michelle toyed with the little wrapper. The lavender was shiny and it was scrawled over with gold glitter. Flipping to the side with the elaborately scripted logo, Michelle squinted and tried to make out the mostly-disguised letters amidst all the swirls and curves.

"T...8? I...B? Or maybe it's TD...or I8, or IB...huh," she mused, setting it back down.

"Done!" Irvine hit the 'enter' key to send his report with a loud drum of his finger,

Distracted by the sudden noise, Michelle looked up and then slowly smiled, "Well Cowboy, we have some spare time... wanna go hit the clubs?"

"Oh, Feilan, you are _so_ bad for my productivity," Irvine grinned, pulling her out of her chair and pushing her towards the front door.

OoO

"And now! We present the fashionista of the interviewing world—Quiiiiiiiistis Trepe! Quistis is modelling the latest in news reporter apparel for us today-- "

Selphie kept a running descriptive monologue as Quistis stalked down their imaginary catwalk and posed. The two had been shopping for several days, having already been to three of Esthar's top spas. Whisking back into the change room Quistis tossed the stylish blazer and skirt into the "to keep" pile and dashed out to catch sight of Selphie's latest find.

They had received warnings from Squall about the addictive properties of Shimmer Stone Dust but for all their poking around, neither Selphie nor Quistis had found any evidence that the drug had made it into the Estharian market. Buoyed by their safety the two continued on their impromptu holiday. Laguna had been most receptive to their needs and, incensed after realizing where his emissaries kept disappearing from, had spread special tracker and investigator units across the globe to try and find Malach. Quistis wasn't sure if they'd be able to capture the Bio Lab chemist but it gave her comfort to know that Malach would be hard pressed to find safe places to stay.

Back in Selphie's suite they gloated over their latest purchases and snipped off the tags while sipping hot chocolate with peppermint stir sticks. Quistis pushed her glasses back up the bridge of her nose while she folded another stack of clothing, pausing to pass Selphie the scissors.

"Okay, my turn," the blonde said, "your dream house: what does it look like, who lives in it with you and where is it?"

"Ooh, that's a good one. Let me think," Selphie chirped, snapping off another tag and rummaging around the pile of paper and plastic for the extra button packet that had fallen somewhere inside it, "Where, I think either here or, hmmm, close to FH. I really love the port town."

"Oookay, and now, what does it look like?"

"It's HUGE! And totally weird. Angles. Circular rooms. One of those cute little elevators just for food so I can have bedtime snacks without sneaking to the kitchen,"

"You're going to have 24-hour kitchen staff I take it?"

"Oh for SURE," Selphie grinned, "and a waterpark. With a slide that starts on the roof of the house. Maybe have a nice rooftop garden with lights, fish pond, all that... giant bedroom, of course. Beds like these!" She bounced in place on top of the luxurious Estharian comforter.

Quistis laughed, "What colour scheme?"

"Mostly blue, yellow and orange, but green too. Greens and yellows for the living room, paler shades. The kitchen should be a happy yellow, because happy things happen there. My bedroom will be blue and yellow—duckie style. Same with my bathroom. Hmm." Selphie's eyes went dreamy as she thought about it,

"And who lives there with you?" Quistis arched her eyebrows, feeling mischievous,

"Ummmm!" Sephie turned pink and then fell backwards on the bed, "Do...d'you...d'you think he'd WANT to?"

"Hmmm, that depends who you're talking about, doesn't it," Quistis asked, smiling wickedly and examining her fingernails,

"Yes you do!" Selphie sat bolt-up right and pointed an accusing finger at Quistis,

"Gee, I think I forgot," Quistis rolled on to her back and changed her tone to questioning, aiming a wide-eyed innocent look at Selphie,

"Argh!" Selphie mock-growled at Quistis and swatted the blonde with a pillow, "Squall of course!"

"Yeek! Ooh right, Squall. Our stony-eyed commander. Our stoic friend of eternal silences. The Ice Prince. The Rock Wall. The Frigid Lion—"

"He is NOT!" Selphie said with utter conviction, her face was screwed into a ferocious grimace but her eyes sparkled with suppressed laughter,

"No, I suppose he isn't. Not all the time at least," Quistis smiled softly, "I feel like I haven't seen him in a long time,"

"We haven't," Selphie pouted, "Not really. We had a brief rest at Balamb and then we were out again. I want some time to relax and get to know him."

Her reluctant and almost fearful tone made Quistis frown and look at her friend more closely, "Is everything all right?"

"Yeah," Selphie mustered a smile, "I just wish I knew if he actually liked me. These things are so complicated and...ugh, I have to concentrate on the mission, not Squall."

She looked as if she might have said more but the phone in her suite suddenly rang. Frowning Selphie leaned over and plucked it from the receiver. At once her eyes widened in horror. After a moment of clipped agreements, a pale-faced Selphie hung up the phone.

"That was Rinoa. There's been an explosion. The rebel hideout has been destroyed."

Quistis leapt to her feet and jumped off the bed, grabbing her coat off of one of the sitting chairs, "Come on, we're closer to Rin than anyone else!"

The two SeeDs burst from their rooms and ran towards Laguna's Presidential launch bay.

OoO

OoO

The Olympics are over! I don't know if any of you also live in Vancouver but MAN was it crazy over here! I ran downtown after Canada won gold in men's hockey and it was INSANE. Did any of you watch the events? I haven't updated in a bit so I'm uploading two chapters for you all :)


	23. Chapter 23

AS 23

Squall cursed and hung up the phone violently. Rinoa had just called to report that the rebel base was destroyed and all evidence of the rebels origins or leader were gone. Before he could even leave his dorm, the phone was ringing again, this time it was Quistis, hastily assuring him that she and Selphie were on their way to the raven-haired SeeD. Squall sighed and raked a hand through his hair. Why was nothing going right this time around? This entire mission had been one mess up and one mystery after another!

Sprinting down the hall and pounding on Zell's door, Squall waited impatiently for the blonde to answer. Zell poked his head out slowly, squinting at Squall in annoyance. He opened his mouth to complain but Squall grabbed him by the collar and jerked him out of the dorm.

"You and Kerei have to get to the caves NOW." Squall ordered, "Rin just called, someone blew up the rebel base, if they're destroying evidence we have to get to the caves before they arrive!"

"Shit!" Zell exploded, jerking free of Squall and darting down the hall.

Squall rounded up Kerei and Nida, hustling them into the Ragnarok. His mind raced: Quistis and Selphie would provide backup for Rinoa, Zell and Kerei would defend the caves, was he missing anything? Was there any place he should go? Irvine and Michelle would be safe, there was nothing in Dollet to endanger them.

"Nida, I'm coming too as backup, we can keep in touch with both teams and if either needs us you can fly us over," Squall ordered, jumping into the giant ship.

"Right." Nida agreed, running his hands over the controls and sending the ship arcing gracefully into the air.

OoO

Quistis hugged Rinoa tightly when the little shuttle Selphie and she had taken finally arrived at Trabia. Rinoa was paler than usual but otherwise seemed unhurt. Selphie scanned the area carefully, noting the giant plume of smoke snaking into the air where the hideout had been.

"If there are more hideouts whoever is bombing them will probably take them out as well, at least we'll know where they are," she remarked,

"You have a point." Quistis nodded briskly, "Tell us the details Rinoa,"

Rinoa sighed softly, "We were conducting our preliminary sweeps of the area when a small aircraft swept down and bombed an area east of where my team was. When we arrived at the site, one of the other teams was trying to put out the fire. The bomb had been dropped right over the rebel hideout, it injured two cadets but they'll recover. With so many SeeD swarming the area the aircraft went up into the cloud cover, I don't know if it's still there but I'm assuming it is. We found one smaller hideout, more like a temporary crash space, but I have a cadet hiding nearby to monitor it. I think it will be a target, and if I'm right we might be able to down the aircraft and find out who's responsible."

"We can probably bring it down with magic, if Trabia's defences aren't long-range enough." Quistis mused, "All right, show us where it is."

The three women trooped through the snow and pushed their way through the scattered foliage until they met up with a young cadet hiding in a tree. His young, determined face made Quistis smile. When he caught sight of them he paled slightly and sketched a hasty salute.

"At ease, Cadet," Quistis said gently, "We're going to wait with you, if anything happens, break away and make a report at Trabia,"

"Right!" he replied with another salute.

The three did not have long to wait. The silence of the field was suddenly broken by a series of hissing noises followed by deafening crashes. The ground rocked and all four of them dropped to their knees. The cadet's eyes widened and Quistis shoved him in the direction of Garden.

"Go!" She ordered.

No sooner had she pushed him, the earth in front of them erupted. Snow and dirt plumed into the air, obscuring their views and causing Rinoa to cough violently. Quistis scrambled over the snow, her hands pressed against the frigid ground as she tried to right herself.

"Triple! Protect!" Selphie threw herself in front of the three of them, giving each SeeD a shield against the raining earth.

"Good thinking, Seffie," Quistis breathed a sigh of relief, then, "Look! There!"

Above them an aircraft swerved and turned, sighting the SeeDs and preparing to do extra damage. Rinoa grit her teeth and jumped to her feet, "Oh no you don't...!"

"LEVIATHAN!" Rinoa shouted.

Water crashed on to the shuttle effectively knocking it from the sky. Quistis didn't hesitate to dart forward with an attack of her own, taking advantage of the fact that now the shuttle was streaming with water.

"QUEZACOTL!"

OoO

The trip to the caves was intense with four SeeDs sitting white-knuckled in the Ragnarok. There had been no further word from Rinoa yet and Squall was anxious for news. Finally too riled up to sit still, Zell stood up and waved to Kerei so the two could warm up and do some practices before they touched down. Kerei moved her shoulder experimentally, finding that it no longer hurt at all, and followed him. This left Squall and Nida alone, both of them staring out of the main screen and watching as the caves drew closer. The Ragnarok swooped down, rustling the tree tops as it passed by. Nida landed them perfectly in the field at the edge of the forest and the SeeDs disembarked.

Nida and Squall shared a look as they crept into the forest, weapons drawn. It felt odd to be returning back to the caves that had had such an impact on them. When they reached the semi-circle of boulders where they had originally pitched their tent and Selphie had fallen into the cave entrance the SeeDs were relieved to find it empty. They scouted the area briefly to make sure no one had poked around in their absence and found no evidence.

"Remember; do _not_ go down there if it's cloudy or raining. Only when the sun is shining." Squall told them sternly.

"You know, you guys never really told us what happened down here," Zell pointed out, glancing inside the cave curiously.

When he looked back at Squall he found that the Commander and Nida had both turned interesting shades of pink.

OoO

Quistis' eyes flared when she realized she had become completely isolated from Selphie and Rinoa. After the shuttle had crashed to the earth the smoke and earth-spray had blinded them all. A group of men spilled out of the downed aircraft and the three SeeDs had found themselves entrenched in heavy combat. The air was clogged with debris and smoke, making Quistis' eyes water as she spun, trying to locate her friends.

"Ah, so there you are," a male voice breathed behind her.

Quistis whirled around, clutching her whip tightly. Standing before her, smudged with ash and snow was none other than Malach. Fury gripped Quistis and she snarled, launching her whip at him immediately. He dodged and jumped back, narrowing his green eyes at her. His lips curved upwards in a smirk as he appraised her, the immaculate Quistis Trepe.

"I've been waiting for this moment, you know," He said silkily,

"Entertaining death wishes, are you?" retorted Quistis,

"Fantasies, more like," he laughed, earning him a sharp glare, "You were so interested in our experiments before... I thought you might like to try one."

Malach raised his arm, revealing a strange metallic gauntlet with a tube-shaped appendage lancing off it. He pointed it at Quistis who pressed her lips together and primed herself for an assault. She was unprepared for what he unleashed though, and took the full brunt of an inky spray of wet mist. The dark sticky material billowed forth and clouded her surroundings further, clinging to her clothing and making her feel like she was captured in a globe of darkness.

"Do you like it Quistis?" Malach asked softly, "Or... are you afraid of what breeds in the dark?"

Quistis gasped as a second jet briefly pierced the inky air, covering her in crystal fragments that at once began to let off a pearlescent glow. Malach walked calmly up to her and pointed his gauntlet at her once more, smiling coldly. Quistis tried in vain to flick her whip at him but the strange black particles in the air coated her weapon, making it heavy and slow. Her reactions were all off and she could only watch in horror as a thick blue tentacle snaked out of the tube on Malach's arm and plastered itself to her chest.

"GET—IT—OFF!" Quistis shrieked, lurching backwards and smacking into a tree behind her.

Malach oozed closer, paying no attention to the black matter that clung to his clothing and skin. His eyes burned feverishly into Quistis' as she struggled, feeling her energy be sucked slowly from her body. All hopes of the darkness around them receding were broken as Malach casually dropped what looked like a grenade at her feet. More of the sticky black air hissed out and bloomed all around Quistis. Her eyes watered and she shut them against the onslaught. Her limbs felt heavy and the only reason she was able to hold on to her whip was because the hilt was sticky with the blackness. The tentacle creature slid up by her throat, flickering, tasting her as a source of energy. Quistis shivered in fright at its cold, glassy feel. Malach's body leaned against her own and she could feel his lips press against hers in some vile parody of a kiss. She wanted to squirm, to fight, to do _something_ but her body felt so heavy!

She tried to breathe but found the air so clogged that she choked. As her vision began to haze over, she began to feel something new. Her eyes opened slightly and she stared at the gauntlet for a moment, her dazed mind struggling to comprehend what was happening.

"...Biogauntlet... level fifty-nine, blue magic..." Quistis jerked upright, the spell dropping seamlessly into her mind.

Malach frowned and for a moment doubt crossed his features, "Blue magic? What is blue magic? How did you know the name of my weapon?"

Quistis nearly wept with relief. She instantly tapped the power given to her, feeling an intoxicating rush spiral up her body. The tentacle flickered once more at her neck and suddenly reared upwards and away from her. Malach snarled, realizing she was up to something, and stepped back.

Quistis' eyes snapped open, dark and wild. Her arms came up gracefully, palms outward. A cold smile crossed her face and she laughed, a wicked sound that made Malach suddenly wary.

"_Shudder_." She hissed.

OoO

Selphie spun lightly on her feet and sent out one half of Strange Vision, striking her opponent. Having trained and grown up in Trabia, Selphie was more than at home on the snowy terrain and she used every advantage of her familiarity as she could. Kicking snow into her enemy's eyes and darting around the trees she fought in a beguiling and teasing manner that frustrated the man after her.

She had lost sight of both Rinoa and Quistis near the beginning of the fight when all the men tumbled out of the aircraft but Selphie wasn't worried. Quistis was one of the top fighters of Balamb and Rinoa had enough magic to obliterate a small army if she needed to. Both of them were probably still lost in the smoke that was pouring out of the hideout and the aircraft, whereas Selphie was trying to dance her way to clear air.

Shots fired in her direction and she cursed, spinning away and ducking into another copse of trees. There were two of them out there now; she could hear their clumsy footsteps and shouts over the crackling of fire and sounds of combat. Backing out of the copse slowly Selphie bumped into someone else and whirled with a dismayed squeak that quickly turned to a cry of relief.

"Rinoa!" Selphie sighed, feeling her heart slow,

"Duck!" Rinoa cried.

The moment she yelled out, Selphie noticed a man behind Rinoa and as Selphie dropped to her knees she forced Rinoa down with her. Bullets slammed through the air over the SeeD's heads. Rinoa launched Shooting Star over Selphie's shoulder and let out a muffled, "Oof!" as Selphie used Rinoa's back as a platform to push off of as she leapt at the man behind them. Rinoa caught her Shooting Star and stood up in time to see Selphie tackle the third enemy to the ground.

The little brunette bounced to her feet and grinned back at Rinoa, "He's unconscious! Watch your back!"

Rinoa jerked forward and deflected a bullet off her gauntlet. Selphie sailed past her once more to tear into the last man standing. Just as Strange Vision made contact, something very odd happened.

The sky flooded pitch black, causing Rinoa to freeze in place and Selphie to stumble backwards in shock. They lost sight of everything but could still hear the sounds around them: flames, the hissing of smoke, and the desperate footfalls of the confused enemy. A breeze suddenly picked up and Selphie blinked in confusion as tiny crystal chips swirled through the air.

"Shiva...?" She wondered aloud, but it couldn't be... Shiva was junctioned to Squall.

She then noticed the temperature hadn't changed, a sure sign that these strange crystals could not be from the Goddess of Ice. Selphie swallowed hard and stepped back, wondering where Rinoa was. Then she heard the screams.

The enemy lit up like a torch in front of her! He was covered in crystals and glowed with phosphorescent light. Selphie scrambled back even further now, understanding _what_ the crystals were but having no idea how they had become to behave in such a manner. A new hissing sound joined the medley of the woods around them and Selphie watched in horror as long tentacles, blue and glassy, snaked through the ground and twisted around the captive enemy. He was sucked dry of energy in seconds.

As soon as it had happened, the sky suddenly flushed white and snowy. Selphie found Rinoa looking worried and dazed. The two ran to each other and stared wordlessly into each other's eyes for a moment.

"What the hell just happened?" Rinoa finally squeaked.

"I don't know," Selphie whispered, "It seemed to be on our side though..."

OoO


	24. Chapter 24

AS 24

Squall perched on top of one of the boulders by the river, the same one he had skipped stones on with Selphie in the rain. There had been no sign of enemies yet but Squall felt certain that eventually someone would show up to blast the caves into pebbles. Even if the entrance was destroyed, the enemy might be able to tunnel after the heat was off and so it might be worth the labour later to keep evidence from being discovered now. He might have mused on the topic further had Nida not crashed through the undergrowth.

"Squall! It's Selphie on the radio, you want to hear this!"

Squall shot to his feet and raced back to the campsite feeling an eagerness he couldn't quite explain. When he reached the cave entrance, Zell and Kerei were hunched over the little radio they had brought, deep frowns on both their faces. Zell waved Squall over and made room for the Commander around the tiny device.

"We haven't found her yet, something is REALLY weird here. Rinoa and I are back at Trabia, we've sent SeeDs and cadets out to look for Quistis, the thing is, the sky just went BLACK, like night! Except worse, we couldn't see anything. Suddenly there were crystals and tentacles, and Nida, you know what that means..." Selphie's voice trailed off.

"Wait," Squall jumped in, "Quistis is _missing_?"

"Rin and I did a fast sweep and couldn't see her. We came back to Trabia to call you, a cadet said he contacted Balamb and you weren't there. Squall, I'm worried."

"Nida and I will come over," Squall reassured her, "We might even spot her as we fly over, in the meantime, stay in touch with the Ragnarok."

"Roger." Selphie replied, ending the conversation with a click of her radio.

Squall sighed and looked around. Zell looked troubled, Kerei was staring into the distance, lost in thought and Nida was already heading towards the ship. Quistis was not the type of SeeD to get lost in the Trabian wilderness, and Squall didn't think she'd be THAT far away from Trabia Garden. The implications of those thoughts, however, led to her being wounded or unconscious, and if there were aircrafts bombing the land still out there and she couldn't move...

"Zell, Kerei, watch the caves. Radio in if you need help."

OoO

To their disappointment, neither Nida nor Squall could spot Quistis on the ground as they flew over Trabia. Smoke still poured out of half a dozen or so craters in the earth, obscuring the land beneath. Nida took them straight to Garden after one loop around the area and landed outside the courtyard. No sooner had they climbed out Rinoa and Selphie both ran out to greet them. Squall fidgeted between wanting to grab Selphie in a hug or standing stoic and aloof. Selphie made the decision for him by sliding her arms around his waist and looking up at him with her large green eyes.

"C'mon, let's go try and find Quisty!" she begged earnestly.

Squall nodded shortly and glanced at Rinoa, "Is everything else stabilized and under control here?"

"Yes," Rinoa confirmed, "All we need to do is find Quistis."

"Split up then, Nida and Rinoa, Selphie and I," Squall ordered.

The two pairs immediately branched off, heading to the area where the aircraft had downed and scanning to either side of it. Squall kept Selphie's hand in his own as they trudged over the snow. He glanced at her out of the corner of his eye and noted scrapes from tree branches, a smudge of ash, her knee was scraped and there were snowflakes and ash flakes caught in her hair. He tried not to fret. There was really no reason to be concerned, he knew she was a completely confident fighter.

_But now there is an emotional attachment, and you don't want to see her hurt_. His mind nagged.

_I don't want to see_ anyone _hurt_, Squall retorted, silencing the little voice.

"Squall?"

He looked down and blinked, seeing Selphie peer at him, "Er, yes?"

"Whatcha thinking?" She asked curiously,

"Er," Squall hesitated, "Ah, I'm...glad you're okay."

A huge grin split across her face and Selphie nodded happily. She proceeded to give him the details of the day in an elaborate rant, filled with tangents, enthusiastic gestures and sound effects. Squall laughed helplessly at her antics and wrapped his arm around her, kissing the top of her head fondly. She led him to the crash and from there they veered out. Squally covered his mouth with his sleeve and felt his eyes begin to water from the smoke around them. He squinted into the rolling grey clouds coming from the crash site and tried to catch glimpses of Trepe within them.

"When the last bomb exploded, we were thrown back _here_, and then, when the men came out we spread out because there were so many," Selphie pointed, "Quistis was on my left, so I assume if she needed space to fight she would have gone further this way."

Squall nodded and the two kept walking. The air was cold and clouded with snowflakes and he hated to think of Trepe being sprawled on the icy ground somewhere out there. His eyes swept the ground around them, and a few times he paused to take a 360 view of the area. He nearly missed it, nearly turned too quickly and overlooked the strange markings in the snow, but when he caught sight of the peculiar trails he grabbed Selphie's arms and tugged her towards him.

"What are those?" He asked,

Selphie peered around him and her eyes widened, "I think those are from the tentacles! They sort of slithered across the ground when they came for that man we were fighting, maybe they lead somewhere!"

"Maybe they lead to _Quistis_," Squall growled, "Come on, if she was attacked by those she'll be depleted of energy."

They broke into a light sprint and followed the twisting pathways, already starting to disappear under the falling snow. It was Selphie who spotted Quistis first, and she shouted with a mixture of relief and concern. Squall raced after her and they both fell to their knees on either side of Quistis' body. Hurriedly Selphie checked Trepe's pulse and instantly relaxed—Quistis was alive.

"Hey, I think she's waking up," Squall nodded to Quistis' flickering eyelids.

He slid his arms under her and gently picked her up while Selphie checked the blonde over for injuries. Aside from the same cuts and bruises that covered Selphie's body, Quistis looked okay. Pale, but alive. Selphie poked Quistis' arm and drew her fingers down Quistis' sleeve slowly, frowning as she pulled her hand away.

"She's covered in sticky black stuff," Selphie announced, "Actually, now that I look around...this entire place is covered in sticky black stuff,"

"Ng...Sef...fie?" Quistis whispered slowly,

"Quisty!" Selphie leaned over her friend and smiled, "You're okay! What happened?"

"Where's ...Malach?" Quistis asked, obviously working hard to speak and breathing heavily as if it cost her effort,

Squall and Selphie looked at each other and then back down at Quistis, "Malach!"

OoO

Back at Trabia Garden Selphie brought mugs of hot chocolate to the little table in Rinoa's guest room. Quistis was lying on the bed, curled up and sleepy, while Rinoa perched at the end by Quistis' feet, Squall and Nida had found chairs and Selphie plunked herself on the floor between the two men. Once in the warm and sheltering Trabia, Quistis had begun to revive quickly. She had suffered an energy drain but it was nothing a good night's rest wouldn't cure.

"Malach, Hyne, I wonder where that bastard was hiding," Rinoa pressed her lips together tightly,

"No idea," Squall sighed, "And you don't know what happened to him?"

Quistis shook her head drowsily with a faint frown etched on her features, "I can't remember much of anything. He used a weapon, a special gauntlet, that contained crystal fragments and organic matter. He shot something black at me... it was sticky and hung in the air around us. Then there was a tentacle creature that came out of the gauntlet... ...when it started to feed off my energy I grew so weak and suddenly I knew what it was doing, the creature, I mean. He used the weapon on me and it gave me access to a Blue Magic attack."

Nida laughed humourlessly, "Bad move, Malach."

Quistis nodded sombrely, "He kept draining my energy so not only did I learn the attack, once I was close to passing out I could also _use_ it."

She fell silent then, remembering that intoxicating rush of power that had filled her body. She could remember the look of horror on Malach's face as the attack consumed him and how he had stumbled backwards frantically, slipping on the snow. Quistis hadn't seen the end of her own attack for the energy drain had been too much for her body to handle. Lapsing into unconsciousness she could only pray that Malach was worse off than she was.

"Well. Looking at what it did to the other men we found we know he has to be injured in some way, don't we?" Rinoa asked cautiously,

"I'm not so sure," Squall disagreed quietly, "wouldn't he have some sort of immunity to his own weapon? He did develop it after all,"

"Damn," Selphie mused, "you could be right. What sort of immunity though? The tentacle feeds off energy. All I can think of is if he had something that would repel the creature, but would he think to use something like that? He had no way of knowing Quistis' limit breaks."

"Good point," Nida said, wide eyed, "So if he shouldered that attack with no immunity he must have had a helper to pull him out of danger,"

"I didn't see anyone..." Quistis frowned,

"Maybe he radioed someone? Did he have a communicator?" Rinoa asked,

Quistis shook her head, "I... I'm sorry, I don't know,"

"It's okay," Rinoa soothed her, "at least we know he took a hit,"

Squall nodded, "Quistis, go back to Esthar and recover, we need you to be ready for that interview with Baxter, Rinoa, stay here and see what else you can do, Nida, drop me off in Esthar and then return to the caves just in case Zell and Kerei need anything."

"You're coming with us?" Selphie asked, perking up,

"I want to talk to my Father and find out what this Baxter knows about Trabia," Squall replied solemnly.

"We should check back on Irvine and Michelle once we get there," Quistis mumbled,

"Yeah. Only Hyne knows what he's been doing," Squall twitched, remembering Irvine's hung over reports.

OoO


	25. Chapter 25

AS 25

Quistis sipped a glass of wine and stared evenly through the lenses of her glasses at the man in front of her. Beside her, Selphie scribbled notes, trying to keep up with the litany of events they were hearing from their gracious host: Professor Baxter. They didn't have much time with the man, which was too bad, Quistis reflected. She found his company to be rather lovely. He had a cloud of white hair groomed into waves that curled around his ears, faded blue eyes that sparkled genially behind tiny rectangle-frame glasses and a figure that spoke of living well. He laughed often and openly with no hint of malice.

At the moment he was discussing his last class at Trabia. A class album was propped on one knee, spread open as he traced over the old faces with his finger. The pages were slightly worn, as if he had opened them many times before, and between each page extra photographs and newspaper articles had been stuffed. As he flipped the page one of those articles slid on to the coffee table and Baxter picked it up with a tender smile.

"Ahh, now, these two were my prodigy students!" Baxter announced, "Every professor hopes he will have a pair of students like this at least once in his lifetime."

Quistis and Selphie both leaned forward and Selphie gasped, "Malach!"

The professor looked up at her in surprise, "Oh? You know this young man too?"

Quistis bit back a squeak of alarm but luckily Selphie was on the ball. The brunette leaned forward eagerly and tapped the photo, "I remember seeing him around Trabia all the time!"

Baxter smiled kindly, "Yes, Malach and Tom were my brightest students you know. They helped me with my research in their senior years but were endlessly getting into mischief," he chortled.

Both SeeDs pasted on what they hoped were believable smiles. Baxter leaned back and began to recollect some of the projects the three had worked on. Many of them went straight over Quistis' head and she hoped she didn't look as lost as she felt. Baxter was undeniably a genius in his field and he spoke with passion about the creations that were concocted in his labs. It made Quistis sad to think that such a wonderful man had helped foster ideas in Malach's mind that would eventually lead to the unethical creations of the Biomechanics lab.

The rest of the interview passed soundly and as the minutes ticked by Quistis was able to relax and even enjoy talking to the kindly professor. They bid him a fond farewell and collected their notes, both lost in thought as they travelled back to the Presidential Palace. They found Squall and Laguna having lunch together and joined them, sharing the information found. Laguna sighed and rested his chin in his hand, looking pensive at their news.

"I'm glad to hear that the Professor doesn't have anything to do with it," He mused after a moment, "You'll want to track down that other student though."

Quistis nodded vigorously and wrote down what Laguna said. Squall however, disagreed, "We don't know if Baxter is clean, not really,"

"Squall!" Selphie protested, "You didn't meet him, he was really, super nice!"

Squall shared a long look at her. Was Selphie being too trusting? Was he not being trusting enough? They knew everything about Professor Baxter's day job but he could still be developing materials outside of the labs, or giving guidance to the two students. Squall ran a hand through his hair in frustration. He realized everyone was watching him and waiting for his decision.

"...We'll leave him be for now. If we're given any indication that he might still be in contact with either of the two students, we have to act, I'm sorry, Selphie," he finished.

Selphie swallowed but after a moment nodded, "Yeah. You're probably right."

Squall squeezed her hand and hoped she understood that it was his job to make sure they had all their bases covered. Instantly he berated himself—of course she knew: Selphie was a very competent member of SeeD and even if he didn't trust Baxter he should trust Selphie. The sudden tapping of computer keys snapped Squall from his brooding. Selphie and Quistis were now staring into the screen of Quistis' techtop. Both of them wore frowns of concentration and then looks of identical shock.

"What is it?" Laguna asked, peering over their shoulders,

"Tom Bril, Malach's partner... he's in Dollet!"

"Irvine and Michelle are there!" Squall almost yelled, "Quistis! Contact Irvine immediately. He needs to find everything he can about that man!"

OoO

"COMPANY!" Zell roared as he scrambled for purchase and earth erupted in front of him from another missile.

They had been enjoying the tranquil forests when a persistent humming had broken the air. Barely seconds later two fighter ships had burst through the tree tops sending down a shower of bracken and had opened fire on their modest campsite.

Kerei and Zell bounded away immediately while Nida rolled into the dubious cover of the cave and fished for his quiver and bow. One of the jets slashed through the air low enough to allow six armed men to drop to the ground before returning to the safety of the sky. Zell grit his teeth, _time to roll_.

Kerei hopped nimbly from rock to rock, ducking the wild blows of her opponent. She was facing three of the men who had crashed their campsite and with all the smoke and dust in the air she wasn't sure where the others were. A fist flew into view and she jerked to the right, barely avoiding an explosion perfectly timed to strike her. She cursed and then cursed again as dust got in her mouth. The three men were trying to surround her but if she kept backing up they'd have a harder time. One of them made a lunge for her unprotected left side and Kerei pivoted and slammed her fist into his torso. She connected with hard armour and growled loudly, dropping down and tripping him with a vicious sweep of her leg.

Another eruption behind her cancelled her plans and she hastily began to fight forward, hoping to return back to the campsite. A man grabbed her and clung to her right arm, trying to drag her down with his weight. She floundered momentarily and let out a clipped cry of rage. Magic hissed to life in her left hand. The man looked up at her, firelight reflecting an angry orange in his eyes.

"FIRAGA!" Kerei punched a burning ball of flame into the face of her attacker and watched him flail backwards in pain.

The two remaining were suddenly wary of her and she used their moment of indecision to tackle one of them and drive both fists into his face. Her momentum carried her right over his head and somersaulting closer to the sheltering band of rocks that surrounded the cave and campsite. Hurriedly she raced for it, kicking up dirt as she ran, the last attacker hot on her heels. The humming of the fighter jet above her intensified and she threw her hands up as the ground shattered in front of her, blinding and disorienting her. The man behind her grabbed her waist and hurled her to the ground roughly, sending stars bursting in her vision as her head cracked against the ground.

Zell fought on the other side of the campsite with seven attackers, three of the original and four dropped from the second jet. His face was bruised from a punch he hadn't been able to avoid and his teeth hurt from being clenched so hard. Punch after punch he tried to fight towards the camp, hoping to find Kerei and get back to back with her. _Seven fighters was a bit much_, he thought as he took another hit to the kidney, _I mean, they are clearly over-compensating_, Zell reasoned as he flip-kicked one of the men and knocked him unconscious. Six left.

Nida raced up the hillside and balanced precariously on top of the cave. He strung his bow and squinted through the clouds of dust. Where were Kerei and Zell? Ah. He could spot Zell now, being dragged down by six soldiers from the aircrafts. _Hardly fair_, Nida thought absently as he aimed and fired. Five left over there. He pivoted to try and find Kerei and saw her cast a fire spell. She had one man on top of her in an instant and as another missile blocked her from Nida's vision he could see two more running through the debris to engage her in combat. Well, that left Nida multiple targets to pick.

Zell gasped for air and got a mouthful of dust instead. Was there anything left of the campsite now that it had taken numerous missiles? He had four attackers now thanks to an opening given to him by Nida's arrows. Zell's blood boiled and he could feel himself drawing ever closer to his precious Limit Breaks. A kick to the thigh nearly cinched it but Zell wasn't close enough yet and he retaliated with a wildly swung blow instead. He was mere feet from the crescent-shaped border of rocks that Kerei was trying vainly to get to. He couldn't see her but he knew she would be trying to get to him as hard as he was trying to get to her. Hands grabbed him and pulled him backwards, upsetting his balance and he choked as two men began to punch him repeatedly in the ribs. His vision hazed over and Zell gave in to the roar of blood in his ears.

Kerei screamed in fury as one of the men succeeded in pinning her to the ground. She was choking on dust and blood and had no idea how many men were attacking her now. Craning her neck up she bit viciously at the man's chin and tore through his skin with her teeth. He cried out helplessly and let go of her to rear upwards and reach for his bleeding face. Kerei slammed her fist into his groin and kicked him off her, spinning to her feet. She whirled furiously, feet and fists flying into anything within reach. Lunging for the rocks she hauled herself on top of the barrier and then yelped as someone grabbed her ankle and sent her crashing down on to the stone. She spun and held the rock with her hands while lashing out with a foot, kicking the man repeatedly in the arm until he let go.

The move had cost her though and the men she had pushed back had already risen to their feet. Finding herself instantly swarmed, Kerei backpedalled as fast as she could and all but fell into their destroyed campsite. Someone yanked her hair and brought her back to her knees with tears forming in her eyes. She drove her fist into the gut of her nearest attacker and swept a low kick to trip two more. There were simply too many of them around her to fight well and missiles kept crashing into the clearing making it hard to see. Fingers grabbed her neck and hauled her backwards while another man returned her gut-punch in a sickening blow that brought blood spraying from her mouth. Kerei felt dizziness threaten to overtake her and she struggled in a drunken haze to stand up. She whirled around as fast as she could to strike the man who had grabbed her but promptly took a face full of water. Spluttering she tripped back and realized she was in ankle deep water.

Completely disoriented now Kerei flailed to keep her balance and succeeded in accidentally smacking a man in the face as he leapt to hit her. She almost took a crushing blow by a soldier attempting to knock her out with a club he had made out of the surrounding debris but fortunately she was saved by a dolphin crashing into him.

"Dolphin?"

Kerei squeaked, spinning to watch the aquatic creature dive into the water and disappear from view.

Nida dispatched three more men off of Zell and shifted his attention back to Kerei. She was utterly besieged but he couldn't get a lock on her targets because they were crowding so close to her. Biting his lip in frustration as he watched her go down, Nida yelled at Zell and hoped the blonde martial artist could hear him over the chaos. Nida snapped another arrow, guaranteeing that one more fighter wasn't going to rise back up. There were six left in total, two on Zell, four on Kerei. Nida desperately fired an arrow at the men on Kerei, hoping to at least distract them. The arrow missed and Nida watched it splash into the water. Wait, water?

He did a double take and yes, the campsite was submerged. Kerei and the soldiers were all equally bewildered at their now marshy battlefield and Kerei unwittingly took out a man on her side as she tried to regain her balance. Nida cheered for her but was immediately sobered as a soldier behind her picked up a thick branch and prepared to take a swing at Kerei's head.

He launched an arrow immediately, praying it would strike the target. The arrow bounced harmlessly off the club and Nida cursed, screaming at Kerei to turn around. Fortunately she was saved by a dolphin arcing gracefully into the man behind her.

"Dolphin?" Nida gasped, momentarily stunned.

Zell finished his Dolphin Kick with an elegant flourish, dropping both of the men left on him. He paused long enough to fish in his belt pouch and down a potion to restore his energy before bounding off to Kerei. He found her wobbling on her feet with three men stumbling in the mucky morass trying to hit her. The humming in the air was getting closer again and as Zell hooked one of the men and threw him to the ground, he yelled up at Nida,

"Hit the ships!"

Nida understood immediately and began charging a magical attack. Zell rushed to Kerei's aid and pulled her behind him as he vigorously dismantled one of the soldiers with well-timed hits. Sparks fell down on the two of them as one of Nida's spells connected. They felt the air rush past as one of the jets crashed into the trees not far from where they fought. Nida slid down the rock face and grimaced as he landed in ankle-deep mud. Kerei and Zell knocked the remaining soldiers out and sloshed through the muck towards him.

"Is... that... everyone?" Zell panted, wiping his forehead with the back of his arm, oblivious to the smear of blood and dirt he left behind,

"That's all I saw," Nida sighed in relief, "I didn't hit the other jet though, he never came back,"

"Probably ran away... to report, or get more," Kerei stumbled and Nida caught her expertly, "C'mon, let's move to the cave it'll be drier and we can patch you two up," he said wearily.

"Did our supplies live through that?" Zell peered at the campsite and frowned at the swirling muddy water.

"No," Nida sighed again, "All right, let's get to the Ragnarok, I landed it behind the mountain and hopefully they didn't hit it."

Kerei took several steps forward and then froze, suddenly whirling on Zell, "And what the hell was with THAT? Where did you get a freakin' DOLPHIN in the middle of a FIGHT?" she yelled, waving her arms in the air emphatically,

Zell coughed and shrugged sheepishly, "It's, ah, a Limit Break, I guess, ah, you hadn't seen it before?"

He grinned helplessly at her as she stormed off, limping and cursing as she went.

OoO

The Ragnarok was unharmed, to Nida's supreme relief. Shadowed by the mountain that contained the cave the two jet fighters must have missed it completely. They sat in the cargo hold and stripped off their muddy clothing, changing into cleaner suits and digging through medikits to patch their cuts and bruises. Nida cast healing spells on both the martial artists, knowing that from the livid marks on both of them that ribs had been broken. Kerei passed out soon after and they carried her to a cot so she could rest.

"You should sleep too," Nida advised Zell, "I'll call Squall and let him know, and I'll get that dispatch group we organized to begin their shift early so we can rest up,"

"Yeah, good call," Zell yawned and stumbled to find a cot of his own.

Nida got to his feet slowly and made his way to the command chamber. He radioed the backup dispatch unit first and directed them to the campsite, urging them to bring new gear and supplies. He then called Squall and faced a quick interrogation as the Commander demanded to know everything that had happened. Nida answered as best as he could and when he hung up there was a message waiting for him. A cadet saluted him as Nida walked down the cargo hold of the Ragnarok.

"We arrived at the area Sir! I sent a trainee to check out that downed fighter ship. It's built to do damage but strangely it was holding excavation tools in its hull," she looked confused,

"Excavation," Nida mused, "I guess they still want what's left of the caves. Thank you for the report," he added smiling kindly, "return to the station and I'll pass any orders along by radio."

The cadet saluted once more and left him. Returning to the command chamber he once again contacted Squall but this time he couldn't get through. Shrugging, Nida dropped the radio back into its cradle and decided he'd wait a few moments. If Squall was talking to someone it probably meant they had found something new on their part of the case. The caves were once more secure, so Nida was in no hurry. He stretched his arms behind his head and leaned backwards, a nap was in order before he tried contacting Squall again.

OoO


	26. Chapter 26

AS26

OoO

Irvine hung up the phone and drawled the details to Michelle who had draped herself elegantly over a chair and was toying absently with the little lavender and gold Dust wrapper. Secretly Irvine was glad to have a new direction for their portion of the mission. He definitely felt uneasy about scoping the drug scene, especially the illicit part of it. He was a simple man, give him a fight, a target, some bullets, and a hot dame, and hey, he was good to go. This sneaking around business and trying to piece bits of a puzzle he knew little about was just confusing.

"So, basically, we need to find out everything we can about Tom Brill," Irvine concluded, bringing Michelle's techtop over to her as she swung around in the chair to sit properly.

"Uhm, okay." She murmured, gray eyes intent on the screen, "Do we know what Brill looks like? I wonder if he worked at the labs, we might recognize him, you know,"

Irvine hadn't thought of that, "Huh, you're right. I didn't pay a lot of attention to be honest but it never hurts to check,"

"B...Br... Bri..." Michelle scanned an online phone directory and then smiled, "Brill, Tom, that must be him... there's only one name,"

"Where does he live?" Irvine asked eagerly, perching on the arm of the chair so he could get a better look,

"Wow, he's in the rich district. Oh, look, he has a company of his own now. T.B Distributing," Michelle blinked,

"Here, jot down the address, I'll go call Squall and let him know that we're going to check him out now." Irvine passed her paper and a pencil and then bounced off the chair and headed for the bedroom.

Michelle wrote down the address carefully and then shut off her techtop. Holding the paper tightly she reached over to the side table to drop the pencil back where Irvine had placed it. Her eyes caught on the scrap of lavender wrapper. Hesitantly she picked it up and stared at the fancy gold filigree writing on the back. She nearly missed it, hidden amongst all the swirls, but suddenly, holding both pieces of paper together...

"T...B... Tom Bril, of course, Hyne!" She whirled around, eyes wide, "IRVINE!"

Her shout brought him running back and it took him no time at all to suddenly see the initials in the wrapper with her holding both scraps of paper up. Exhaling slowly Irvine bit his lip and thought hard. Should they prepare or plan for anything new now, or just take a brief walk around the property? Probably better to feign innocence, he decided. They'd look at the terrain and report on that first. If Squall wanted them to infiltrate he'd let them know after making a real plan.

"We'll go in anyways and see what's there." He told her decisively, "I just want to get a look at his place, he might have his production labs elsewhere, but since he's dealing in drugs I'm willing to bet he's got his entire company right on his property where he lives,"

"I won't bet against you," Michelle nodded, "Okay, let's head out."

OoO

Squall sat down at the little lunch table and listened to the little click that told him Irvine had hung up. Selphie and Quistis looked at him curiously and he smiled briefly though his thoughts were moving rapidly in all directions. The brief from Nida weighed heavily on his mind, so the caves were still a target? That didn't bode well.

"Irvine says they found a wrapper for Shimmer Dust and Tom Bril's initials are on the back. They think it's a connection and are going to check out his property. If he is the creator we need to get there fast. We need to tie this together in a hurry, so Selphie, get back to Trabia and find me evidence that links this drug with those labs you found. I'll send Nida and all over to Irvine, I want a full party there. Quistis, stay with me and help me assemble the evidence we've got. We need to send Cid and Xu some reports,"

"Sir!" Selphie and Quistis nodded and the little brunette scampered off to pack.

"You're such a good leader Squallie," Laguna stood and ruffled Squall's hair before sauntering away and leaving his son with glowing red cheeks.

"...Squallie," Quistis snickered, earning her a glare of death.

Two hours later Selphie was dropping her bag in a shuttle that would take her back to Trabia. She fidgeted slowly, wanting to go but at the same time wishing Squall could have come with her. Finally sighing and thinking she shouldn't stall anymore she swung the back hatch closed and walked around the shuttle to the passenger seat. Her eyes widened when she saw that Squall was leaning against the door looking as fidgety and awkward as she felt.

"Squall!" Selphie pounced immediately and cuddled into his chest, smiling to herself when she felt his arms wrap around her,

"I wanted to see you off," He said quietly, "when this mission is over... ah, I'd like... I'd like to see you more often,"

Selphie found herself grinning, "I'm sure we can arrange that," she said cheerfully, "I'll get back as soon as I can, I just... have a feeling that what Irvine is going to find will be important."

Squall looked down at her solemn expression and nodded, "Okay. I'll keep that in mind. Anything you find, send it to Balamb and write a report for me, if we're going to act we need to act fast."

Selphie nodded and hesitated for a moment before balancing on her tip-toes and kissing Squall. She was unprepared for the enthusiasm in which he returned it; his hands combing through her hair and his lips nibbling at hers in a feisty farewell. Wrapping her arms around his neck she pressed her body against his and bit him lightly, feeling electric shocks course through her at the sound of him moaning softly. Swallowing hard she dropped down and blinked owlishly. Suddenly she didn't want to leave. Suddenly melting into Squall's chest seemed like a really good idea.

"Selphie."

"Nng? Squall?" Selphie asked, dazed,

"Mission, sweetheart."

"...Right."

OoO

Rinoa greeted Selphie with unrestrained cheer when the little brunette arrived back at her home Garden. In their absence Rinoa had been busy screening the terrain for hideouts and closing any off that she had found. She had gotten the construction workers at Trabia to both lock away and guard the old laboratories so that any evidence found would remain safe and free from tampering. The two caught up on recent news, with Selphie sharing the details of the interview and the update on what had occurred at the caves.

"I hope they're okay," Rinoa commented, wide-eyed,

"I think so. Squall is the one who got the update and all he told us was that they had been attacked, no major injuries," Selphie shrugged, "Irvine and Michelle hit on a lead too. It looks like this is all falling together,"

"We need to finish our job first before that can happen," Rinoa mused, "I think it'll have to be tomorrow though, it's getting late and we're not going to find anything in the dark."

Selphie began to nod and then suddenly froze. She grabbed Rinoa's arm and beamed brightly at the confused raven-haired Seed, "Rinoa! You're a genius!"

"Uh...?" Rinoa asked blankly,

"The crystals Malach used were phosphorescent and didn't come out unless it was overcast weather. In the light they don't look like anything, but in the DARK they'll glow!" Selphie crowed, "Come on! Let's get packs, gloves, flashlights and anything else we need. If Bril has come back to use the labs, we'll find out soon enough."

Hastily the two of them organized themselves and made a mad-dash for the underground labs. Selphie managed to stumble three times down the patchwork hallway leading to the buried labs and actually fell down the last half of the ladder but she was too excited to notice any pain. Jumping to her feet and hearing the crunch of broken glass beneath her she gasped and grinned in delight.

"Rinny, come see!"

Rinoa hesitated and then climbed down the ladder slowly, letting her eyes adjust to the gloom. She dropped beside Selphie and grabbed the ladder to catch her balance when she realized the ground underneath her was nothing more than rubble. Blinking against the darkness she suddenly gasped when she realized what had drawn Selphie's attention.

Sparkles. Faintly, dusting the broken beakers and vials that were strewn all along the floor and crowded haphazardly along cracked shelves, pale blue sparkles winked at the two SeeDs. It had an enchanting effect on the laboratory, but Rinoa shivered and tried not to think of what might be lurking in all the jagged shadows surrounding them.

"Crystal residue?" Selphie asked, slowly walking forward along the uneven ground towards one of the shelves that was still mostly intact,

"I bet this was where they bred them," Rinoa ventured, flicking on a flashlight and keeping it aimed at the ground so Selphie could see where she was going without losing sight of the sparkles.

"Interesting. I wonder if we can get these samples dated by comparing them to the caves and the BioMed labs, I want to know if Malach was making this stuff while he was under the tutelage of Baxter or if he came back here later,"

"Wasn't there something else as part of it though," Rinoa asked, frowning,

Selphie paused, holding a vial delicately in one hand and a collection bag in the other, "...You're right, the plants. It has to be crystals and plants together. They could easily have raised the crystals here with Baxter and as long as they didn't introduce the plant matter how would he have known what they were up to? You know, we might not be able to clear the Professor's name until after this is done,"

Rinoa nodded soberly, "But as long as he stays in one place, whether he's innocent or guilty we can keep an eye on him,"

"Yeah, there is that," Selphie sighed and returned to her collecting. This was getting complicated.

The two of them worked diligently, turning up an interesting collection of glass fragments, grinding tools, bags of powder and crystal shards.

OoO

Irvine and Michelle strolled along the cobblestone walkway that snaked through the district of Dollet's most wealthy citizens. Beautiful hedges towered majestically to either side of the street, contained regally behind iron fences with gothic accents. The area was quiet, the only sounds being the occasional bird or the even less occasional car driving past. They kept up a pretence of being wandering tourists checking out the glimpses of manicured gardens inside the estates. Irvine found the walk quite peaceful and even pleasant, so long as he ignored why he was wandering through architectural artwork and floral masterpieces. He thought Quistis would enjoy something like this. Maybe after the mission was over he could take her back here just for the day. She'd probably know the names of all the flowers they had passed. She'd also probably know what historical eras the mansions reflected in their design.

Michelle nudged him subtly as they crested a small hill and the Brill Estate opened up before them. Hedges surrounded most of the property as Irvine had predicted but they could see down a long drive studded with ceramic planters along the edges that spilled bouquets of ivy and trailing flowers. The property dripped down a hill but Irvine thought he could see more buildings than anyone would necessarily need to live in. Most of what was in view was obscured by the extravagant garden that tangled up the hedges and fences and curled around the property and all the buildings within. Stepping closer to the fence he peered in curiously with Michelle peeking beside him.

Squinting, Irvine tried to count the buildings. He was so engrossed in this task that when one of the plants nearby twitched he didn't even notice. When the plant twisted around to look at him he let out a clipped yell and crashed straight into Michelle. Instantly the plant stilled and turned into what otherwise looked like, well, a plant! A regular decorative bush. Irvine stared at it, breathing heavily as Michelle clutched his arm.

"Irvine? What did you see?" She hissed.

"Book it, Michelle," Irvine tugged her and they resumed their walk.

If anyone had been watching the two it would seem that they were just a romantic pair on a tour of the fancy gardens. If they had been watching closely, they would have noticed the paleness of Irvine's face and the quickness of their pace, neither of which indicated romance or touring.

Irvine didn't slow them down until they were safely in their hotel room. By now Michelle was seriously alarmed and more than a little annoyed with him being so tight-lipped, "Spit it out, Kinneas!" she snapped as soon as he shut their door.

"By the main gate that we were looking through. One of the plants moved, and it looked at me, and Michelle... I think Tom Brill is using those mutant plant men like at the BioMedical lab as guards... remember all those emissary robes we found? We only fought two of the plant men, right?" Irvine wiped sweaty palms down his coat, "I don't like this."

Michelle had instantly turned pale as well, "Oh, Hyne. I hadn't even thought about the other emissaries. They'd make perfect security forces wouldn't they, especially in a place like that where they're nearly invisible. Who knows how many he has, we only know about the missing emissaries, what if he changed other people too?"

Irvine shook his head dully, "Okay, this is enough, he's involved in the illegal operation of genetically altering humans, we can shut him down with just that, Dust or no Dust. Let's get Squall on the phone. Zell has the caves secure, his team can meet us here. Hyne, I want this to be over,"

OoO

Nida's face flickered across the techtop screen that Quistis and Squall were both gazing at intently. He had written a report but wanted to actually show Squall some of the excavation tools the cadet had found in the downed jet. Gardening implements were the foremost of what he was displaying to the two SeeDs, that and little packets full of oblong shapes.

"Are those...?" Quistis began hesitantly,

"Seeds, yes," Nida nodded, his digitalized voice sounding far away, "I don't think the inside of that cave is as natural as we first thought. I think Malach planted the foliage in there,"

Quistis sighed and pushed her glasses back up the bridge of her nose, "This is... incredible. How much planning did they have to do to achieve this? How much time has it taken them, and we're only figuring out what they've done now..."

Squall nodded soberly, "Too late to save some of the world's emissaries, that's for sure," he sighed and rifled through the reports he had received from all the teams, "Okay. So the caves and Trabia Garden are both being used to harvest resources for both the Lab and possibly for drug engineering, we still don't know how the rebels really tie into this. I guess they could be mercenaries but that one we captured mentioned he was on the drug... think they're using the drug to pay for services?"

"Hiring addicts?" Quistis asked, raising a slender eyebrow, "It's been done before,"

"Nasty," Nida grimaced, "This entire mission is just nasty."

They fell silent, each of them pouring over the reports they had amassed from the beginning of the mission and collecting their thoughts. Squall wanted to rush in and end it, but he was wary of what might lurk in those production labs. The original agreement for immunity to all weapons from the Biomedical lab had never been finished and so they would be going in without vital protection. They could, and should, stock up on fire magics, he decided. It wasn't the best protection but it would probably help against anything plant-based. Detoxification magic as well...

"Let's go crash Irvine's place. I want everyone there, we'll discuss what we're going to do when we're all together." Squall decided, standing up.

"I'll let Irvine know to reserve us a couple rooms," Nida replied, "See you two when you get here,"

"Bye, Nida," Quistis smiled before switching off her techtop.

OoO


	27. Chapter 27

AS27

OoO

The lobby of the hotel was crowded by the time Quistis and Squall arrived. Michelle and Kerei were gossiping in the plush lobby room chairs, while Zell and Irvine enthusiastically discussed the fight at the caves. Nida, Selphie and Rinoa were clustered by the reception desk trying to organize rooms and who would pay for what. When Squall and Quistis arrived the groups broke up and they quickly got themselves settled. By this time the receptionist looked suitably frazzled and happy to see the mob of SeeDs dissipate.

Squall tossed his bag on his bed and yawned. He was sharing with Irvine, Nida and Zell in one of the hotel's larger suites. Irvine had graciously given up his old room to Michelle and Kerei and Rinoa, Quistis and Selphie had decided to bunk together. Privately Squall wished he could share with Selphie but he knew better to rush them into a mission-filled drama. After their goodbye in Esthar he wanted to be alone with her again badly but his responsibilities as a Commander had to come first. _For now_, he thought.

"Tell me about the caves," Squall said when Zell wandered in,

"You would have loved it," Zell grinned, flashing white teeth at Squall, "there were guys EVERYWHERE, and missiles! And explosions!"

"And a dolphin," Nida added dryly,

"Dolphin?" Squall and Irvine chorused in confusion,

"That's what Kerei said," Zell snickered, "I got hit pretty bad. Used a Limit Break,"

"Oh," Irvine said as it dawned him and he started laughing, "your protégé must adore you for pulling that stunt on her,"

Zell snickered, "She'll get over it. She hasn't developed her own set of limits yet."

The four men grinned mischievously and unpacked their gear. They stayed up late that night, catching up on news and taking care of their weapons and gear so that it would be ready for anything. Around midnight they were bombarded by the girls who declared it was time for a midnight waffle run. Grinning like adolescents they spilled out of the hotel and went in search for a late-night diner. As they walked down the dark streets spotted with streetlamps, Squall caught Selphie's hand in his own and smiled down at her. She beamed radiantly back at him and hopped up to give him a quick kiss on the cheek.

"What do you think of Dollet? I've never been to the richer districts before but Michelle told me they snake around and everything is hidden by tall fences and hedges," She frowned, "It's not going to be easy, keeping this quiet,"

"Fighting in civilian areas never is," Squall agreed, pulling her close, "we'll have a multi-pronged attack, and a cover. I know that much,"

"Ooh, sounds chaotically delightful!" Selphie chirped, "Something else that sounds delightful is a chocolate-strawberry waffle! What are you gonna get?"

Squall pondered for a moment as they swung inside a rosy little diner manned by sleepy staff, "Maple," he replied,

"Maple... and?" Selphie persisted curiously,

"Walnuts?"

"Is that good?" She inquired,

"Yes." Squall nodded.

"Ah, I see." She didn't really.

Squall smirked and dropped a kiss on the top of her head, making her blush. They took over a booth by the window and slid a couple of tables over to seat them all. There was a brief flurry of menus and coffee mugs before the SeeDs fell to silence, each inspecting the menus with intensity that only the very hungry can achieve. Quistis tucked a loose lock of golden hair behind her ear and pursed her lips.

"Raspberry sounds good,"

"I was looking at the raspberry," Michelle nodded, "I think I'll get one of those with almonds,"

"Blueberry!" Kerei exclaimed,

"I want blueberry too!" Zell elbowed her, "Copy cat,"

"I said I wanted it first,"

"White chocolate pistachio," Nida blinked, "Interesting."

"Straight up dark chocolate for the sniper over here," Irvine winked at the waitress,

"Why would you tell the waitress you're a sniper?" Zell stared at Irvine while Squall quietly face-palmed,

"Er, well, d'you think it matters?" Irvine frowned, "I mean, I am clearly a cowboy,"

"It matters if we go out and cause trouble tomorrow," Quistis sighed, "No matter, she probably won't remember,"

"I could convince her I'm a SNIPER OF THE _LADIES_!" Irvine threw a lecherous smile at Quistis and raised his eyebrows,

"That was... ..." Rinoa hesitated,

"Horrible." Zell finished, "Irvine. Stop talking."

Selphie giggled helplessly at Irvine's crestfallen face and the SeeDs took their turns ordering to a thoroughly bewildered waitress. When plate after plate of hot waffles and elegant sauces came the SeeDs all but attacked their meal. Zell was barely visible behind his plate and unaware of Selphie and Rinoa mischievously stealing waffles from the mountain he had ordered. Quistis, Michelle and Nida had set up a taste-testing of all the sauces and fruits and were composing poetic reviews, each more ridiculous than the last.

Squall chewed thoughtfully, relieved that the SeeDs were going to have some fun before whatever happened. Would this inevitably be the calm before the storm? His mind naturally drifted to the mission and what their options were. He was contemplating how he'd split them up when an elbow tapped him smartly and he stared at Selphie in surprise.

"Tonight is for relaxing, Squall," She narrowed her eyes playfully at him, "I don't want to see any serious contemplation going on!"

"Selphie is right, Squall," Quistis smiled wisely at him, "Try to enjoy yourself,"

"We could paint a chocolate moustache on him, I've heard that is the key to true enjoyment," Zell commented stoically,

"Oh? Then why don't YOU have one?" Kerei asked, peering around his plate of waffles,

"He does have one," Rinoa giggled and snapped her arm across the table so quickly Zell couldn't dodge,

"You realize... this means war," Zell growled.

The food fight began.

OoO

"Squall?"

Squall finished combing out pieces of walnut from his hair and glanced at Irvine who was towelling his hair dry. The sharp-shooter seemed subdued but it was hard to tell if there was something bothering him or if he was just tired. They had turned the diner into a warzone and had eventually been tossed out. It had been worth it though. The housekeepers would find their rooms the next day liberally sprinkled with evidence of berry sauces and syrup covered nuts but Squall hoped a large enough tip would keep them from complaining.

"I noticed... you and Selphie are spending more time together," Irvine fished awkwardly,

"I like her," Squall replied bluntly,

"I'm fine with that," Irvine coughed hastily, "Jus' ... I wanna know, is she, okay now?"

Squall softened, "Yeah, I think she's over it. You should probably just talk to her though,"

Irvine nodded and sighed, "Yeah. I screwed up... she's a great girl, but, I think we're better friends."

Squall didn't know what to say to that admission so he simply nodded. Surprisingly, it was Nida who commented, "I think the two of you make better friends too. It's easy to see what drew you to her though. She's so energetic and positive, she makes sure to include everyone in her insane plans and somehow manages to convince you that all of her ideas are fantastic ones,"

"Especially when they involve explosives," Squall rolled his eyes,

"Or pink smoke bombs,"

"Or gigantic parties that take weeks of planning,"

"And weeks of after-party cleanup."

They laughed and settled in. It was morning already but when they woke up in the afternoon they would be busy planning.

OoO

Over coffee the sleepy SeeDs began to formulate a plan. Quistis had scavenged around and located blueprints of all the historical buildings in Dollet, including Tom Bril's mansion though regrettably not his production plants. Rinoa, Kerei and Nida had taken over the suite that Rinoa had slept in and were compiling all their data into one large report to be sent to Balamb. In the suite that Squall had slept in, he, Quistis, Irvine and Zell were outlining their strategy. Selphie was in Kerei's suite contacting the cadets at the caves and Trabia and letting them know that the SeeDs would be moving out, and giving them guidance on how to fortify their zones just in case a retaliation attack was launched. Michelle was sent to scour the shops in Dollet to find all the distributors of the Dust.

"Let's hammer out some objectives," Squall started, "We have to shut down Tom Bril—kill or apprehend?"

"I wouldn't mind killing him," Zell ventured dryly, "He turns people into plants and makes lethal drugs, do we really want someone like that around?"

"There's also Malach," Quistis added, "I don't know if we want to kill both or apprehend one...?"

"Apprehend for now," Squall mused, "we'll see what information we can find in the plant and Bril's house. I want to know how they made the drug and how their toxins work. If we kill them and can't find any data we'll lose a lot of valuable information,"

"Agreed," Quistis replied gravely, "I hate to suggest this but if there are more people involved that we don't know about we could unwittingly destroy our chances of coming up with vaccines and immunization spells and be in a lot of trouble later on,"

"That's all good and well but what about Michelle and my find—the locals buy Dust here like candy and think it's harmless," Irvine spoke up, "even if we shut down Bril, the substance is out there and sooner or later someone is going to produce a synthetic,"

Squall sighed and ran his fingers through his hair, "I understand your concern but that isn't really part of our mission,"

"Idea," Zell announced, "we raid the plants, find any research studies they've done on the effects of Dust and then just send them to whatever ministry of health Dollet has."

Quistis' eyebrows shot up and even Irvine and Squall looked a bit surprised at Zell's suggestion. It wasn't that Zell was _stupid_ by any means... he just usually preferred beating things, and blowing things up. That he had paid attention in his political science and diplomacy classes plainly shocked his comrades. The silence began to stretch.

"Er," Zell turned faintly pink, "I-I mean if it's not..."

"No no no!" Quistis interrupted hastily at the same time Irvine choked, "Great idea Zell!" and Squall blurted, "Excellent suggestion!"

They stared at the table awkwardly.

"Erm, so. Um. We'll go in, apprehend them, gather data, and send it to the officials." Squall summarized, "Teams and tactics."

"Split into groups," Irvine said immediately,

"We can get through the sewers pretty well," Zell offered,

"And we can send in a cover to distract him," Quistis nodded, adjusting her glasses, "an interview like we did with Baxter would work, especially because we can build off his story to make it more credible,"

"Good." Squall nodded, "Put Selphie on that, Tom might recognize her as coming out of Trabia which would work in our favour. Michelle too. You and Irvine can search his mansion. Zell, Kerei, Nida and I will go through the sewers. We'll keep Rinoa on the outside in case anything happens,"

"That sounds good. Let's make copies of the mansion blueprints and the sewer guide. We might want them with us," Irvine replied, standing up.

Quistis took the prints to make copies and contact Bril's secretary to set up the interview. The rest split up to inform the others about their mission placements. Rinoa was disappointed about having an external position but Irvine assured her it was the best choice. Rinoa was their top healer, and if any of them were exposed to poisons, they wanted at least one person safe to heal the others. The raven-haired SeeD brightened when she heard this and Irvine smiled encouragingly at her.

Selphie immediately grabbed their notes from the Baxter interview and created a mock-article to bring with her to Bril's mansion and when Michelle returned with a list of distributors and sellers of Dust, Selphie briefed her on their part in the mission. Michelle nodded and looked at a photocopied photo of Bril in Selphie's file. She was relieved to see she didn't recognize him. It would have been rather awkward if she showed up at his place and he remembered her from the labs!

They spent the rest of the day preparing. Zell made a few small repairs to his gloves while Irvine polished up Exeter and packed extra ammo just in case. Squall passed a sharpening stone along his gunblade and watched Selphie carefully sharpen the ends of Strange Vision. No one spoke much, all of them concentrating on building focus and maintaining a sense of calmness. At her feet, Selphie had a bag that would normally hold a tripod for a camera but for her would store her precious weapon. It was the only thing she could think of to disguise the large nunchaku. Michelle, fortunately only had to conceal a pair of knives which wouldn't be too difficult.

By evening everyone was prepared and the interview was scheduled. It was in the early afternoon which gave the SeeDs plenty of time to get into their positions. The Sewer Team would be leaving early in the morning to avoid detection, and the Lab Team would scout the perimeter shortly before the Interview Team was let inside. Irvine and Quistis had found a spot on the property where the fence ran alongside a hill, allowing them to scale it and fall only a short way down into the concealing garden. They would have to defeat any sentries but both hoped there wouldn't be many, for two reasons: one, neither of them wanted to draw unnecessary attention to themselves, and two, both of them were entirely aware that those plant creatures used to be human.

One by one they trickled off to sleep. Zell berated Kerei until she went to bed early under the protective eye of her mentor. Feeling much better, Zell turned around and found the dark glare of Quistis on him. She ordered him to sleep sternly and he meekly followed her command. The Sewer Team had the longest set up time and it was important that they all be ready for it.

Squall carefully tidied away his weapon and sought out Selphie. She had lagged on her way back to her room and brightened the moment she saw him. They said no words; only fell into a tight embrace. She marvelled at how warm he was and how slow his heart beat... a steadying sound full of tranquility. Leaning up she kissed him gently and deeply, exulting in the sharp pang of attraction she felt. Squall crushed her closer and stroked her hair before letting her go reluctantly. She sighed softly and gave him a dazzling smile before slipping into her room. Squall couldn't wait for the mission to be over.


	28. Chapter 28

AS28

OoO

"Why me?" Zell moaned pitifully the next morning,

"Weren't you the one that suggested this little endeavour?" Kerei shot him a look out of the corner of her eye,

"I didn't know we'd be going the day before the cleaning system came on. We should have postponed the mission," he grumbled back.

Kerei grinned and studiously breathed through her mouth.

"It should get better when we make that left turn up ahead," Squall said quietly with a gesture ahead, studiously breathing through his mouth and not his nose.

"Thank Hyne." Zell replied, "Then when we reach the property Nida will find the security hub and turn off the alarms in the labs and hope he doesn't alert Bril."

"He should have each building under its own sub-system," Nida nodded, "After all, the security codes and protocols for the labs wouldn't be shared with his mansion unless he didn't mind his employees having access to his house… and I can't see that happening."

"Turn here," Squall instructed softly.

They slipped around the corner and after several minutes of swift walking the air was breathable once more. Zell sighed in relief and the pinched expression left his face. If the worst thing about the mission was the stench he would be happy, but something told him that this would be the least of their problems.

OoO

Nida glanced back at the two unconscious security guards and felt a trill of nervousness play down his spine. Out of all the SeeDs he saw the least closed-quarter combat and knowing that he was the only one in the tiny security room with two guards, even unconscious ones, at his back did not make him feel comfortable. He resolutely turned his attention to the multitude of screens in front of him and bent to the task of disarming the security systems.

The work was delicate but Nida was a patient man. His slender fingers danced over the key consoles in front of him while his brandy brown eyes darted from screen to screen, trying to see if anyone suspected their little break-in. In one screen he could see Quistis and Irvine standing just inside the perimeter fence. A flash of bright colour in another showed Selphie entering the mansion with Michelle at her heels, both smiling and being ushered in by a servant.

Time passed by agonizingly slow but Nida knew he didn't dare hurry. One mistake and the mission would be completely compromised. At long last Nida watched in satisfaction as little green lights clicked off along the tops of the screens. He tapped his radio watch and let Squall know through code that the labs would be accessible now. Once Squall had replied an affirmation Nida exhaled softly and checked again to make sure the guards behind him were still thoroughly out.

Reassured he climbed back into the overseer's chair and looked for his friends. Quistis and Irvine were obscured by foliage and all he could see was a trace of golden hair alerting him to their position. Squall's team was just now creeping out of cover. He scanned for Selphie and Michelle and found them still talking. Tom waved his hand at a servant and Nida watched the man leave one screen and enter another moments later. The man seemed to be making tea and Nida smiled, well, at least one mission group would be having a pleasant time! His eyes began to slide away but watching the servant suddenly add something to two of the teacups sent every nerve in Nida's body alight. What was the man doing?

OoO

The moment Quistis crested the top of the fence and dropped to the hill on the other side she felt the ground underneath her boots slide. With a scream of horror she plummeted down the slope of the manicured mountain of lush grass, damp from morning rain. A beautiful garden lay at the base of the sculpted hills sheltering it and Trepe smashed into a compost heap alongside a bed of azaleas with a bone-jarring impact. The landing dazed her and it wasn't until she heard Irvine skidding down the slope after her that she slowly raised up to her knees.

"Yo, Quisty! You okay?" Irvine dropped at her side and then paused uncertainly,

Quistis looked up at him, and then back down at herself. It had rained early that morning. She was covered head to toe in mud. She swallowed hard. Frozen in embarrassment.

"Uh, let me help you wipe that off," Irvine struggled to find something to say, reaching into his coat to pull out a handkerchief.

Quistis stared at the tiny scrap of pristine white, and then down at her mud-crusted form. She couldn't even see the colours of her SeeD uniform. They both looked at each other for a moment, and then burst out laughing. Quistis held her ribs as tears blazoned white trails down her cheeks. Irvine fell to his knees, choked to silence on his laughter and getting _his_ clothes all dirty too. By the time they finished, they were two mud monsters.

"I never took you for someone who liked getting dirty, Trepe," Irvine grinned, his face glowingly pale in comparison to his sludgy body,

"You don't know me very well yet, Kinneas," Quistis replied dryly,

"Not yet, no." he agreed, his eyes suddenly more intense as Irvine desperately tried to confirm in his mind that an invitation had been given to him by the classiest dame in Balamb.

Quistis swallowed again, glad he couldn't see the flush on her cheeks beneath the earthy covering. Exhaling sharply she stood up and tried not to wince, or laugh, as sludge-droplets plopped into the ground below her.

"Well. Now what? We need to get into the house but if we go like this we're going to be very, very traceable,"

"True," Irvine paused in thought, "but we won't be recognizable either,"

Quistis looked at him mischievously.

OoO

Selphie sat anxiously in Tom's waiting room. Her part of the mission, to distract him, would be the hardest to pull off. Michelle sat beside her and fidgeted, long nails drumming overtop her clipboard impatiently.

"Ladies?"

Both jumped. Laughing self-consciously they stood up and allowed Tom Bril to escort them to his living room. He had spread out sheets of data and old projects on organic chemistry formations across the glass-top table and some of his Garden awards were stacked neatly to the side.

"I'm flattered you'd choose me for this series of alumni," he said with a smile as he sat down on one couch and gestured for them to take the other across from him.

"We want to educate people on the benefits of enrolling in Garden and what sort of jobs they can expect coming out," Michelle replied with an answering smile, "What you've managed to do with chemistry is nothing short of amazing, but how were you able to turn that into a career?"

They launched straight into the interview with Selphie's instincts remaining coiled in turmoil. Half way through the session she realized that Tom's expression was not of casual enjoyment, he was smiling to be sure, but his eyes were cold and calculating. He waved to one of his servants on the side, a dour man who vanished instantly and then returned his gaze to Michelle who had stopped mid-question.

"Just bringing us some refreshments," he told her smoothly,

"Oh! Well, how generous, thank you. Um, so, I was just asking, when did you discover this passion for organic chem.?"

Selphie scribbled all of his answers down messily, bending to the task so she wouldn't have to meet his eyes. Tom settled back into the couch and seemed more relaxed now and she wondered if his expression before was only because he had been thirsty and didn't know when to interrupt Michelle. Jovial and friendly he bantered with Michelle over childish desires to be king of the world until the manservant returned and set a tray gingerly on the table, pushing the projects aside.

Tom served them himself and Michelle and Selphie murmured their thanks. She took a sip from her delicate china teacup and paused, reflecting on the flavour... the taste, or the scent of the taste.. seemed so familiar…

…the caves!

Frantic she kicked the table leg closest to her and knocked some of the paper stacks to the ground. She stammered an apology while Tom bent to retrieve them. Elbowing Michelle sharply she jerked her chin at the cups and shook her head fiercely. Michelle paled, she had already drank some too! Selphie despaired as she watched the woman's face begin to smooth over in serenity and hurriedly she tried to fix the same expression on her face, hoping her tiny sip would not cloud her too much. This was not good, not good at all.

OoO

A sudden crackle emanated from Selphie's radio-watch. She gasped as Tom Bril looked sharply at her.

"SELPHIE! Get OUT! IT'S A TRAP!"

Tom Bril snarled and lunged over the table towards her. Selphie flung her teacup at him and scrambled over Michelle's prone body and the couch, hearing the precious china shatter behind her. She raced out of the living room, frantically looking for a way out and aware that there were footsteps pouring from the upper levels of the mansion toward her. Bodyguards and servants- the rest of the household was stirring!

Outside the mansion, Irvine growled and grabbed Quistis' arm, jerking her towards him, "Look! Something's happening!"

"We have to get Selphie and Michelle out of there!" Quistis gasped.

They both tore across the manicured lawn but to their horror metal plates descended like lightning over the windows and doors, transforming the mansion from a beautiful work of architecture to an armoured fortress. Quistis slammed a fist angrily against the metal coverings and swore under her breath. Irvine growled low in his throat but then fumbled for his sleeve, pulling back the mud-stiffened material to expose his radio watch.

"Nida! Come in! We're blocked out of the mansion and we need in now!" He yelled frantically,

"I have some problems of my own!" Nida called back after a moment, sounding breathless, "Working on it!"

"Nida, we can come help you, we're close by," Quistis spoke up suddenly, leaning over Irvine's wrist, "Hold on. Come on Kinneas."

They began to run around the mansion and head for a small building that connected the labs and the main household. Gunshots could be heard from inside and Quistis put on a burst of speed. The door to the security office hung off its hinges and as they neared a guard spilled out awkwardly clutching his upper arm.

"YAAAAARGH!" Quistis yelled, pouncing on him in a giant muddy mess.

Irvine nearly tripped over his feet in surprise at the elegant Ms. Trepe acting like a mud monster. He nearly tripped again in hysteria when the guard screamed like a young child and back-pedalled away from her as fast he could. Quistis, however, wasted no time in running into the office and then switching from earthy elemental to professional killer.

As they shoved into the tiny security office Irvine's laughter died in his throat at the sight of a blood-covered Nida, holding a bullet wound with one hand and trying to fend off the last remaining guard with the other. Irvine aimed over Quistis' shoulder and pulled Exeter's trigger, slamming the guard into the security console and finishing him off. Nida sagged in relief and pushed the body on to the floor, dropping into his chair and letting Quistis heal him.

"We have to open this mansion up, Selphie and Michelle are in big trouble," Quistis told Nida.

"I know... let's see..." Nida turned to the computers and studied the consoles, "I think I can do this."

Quistis and Irvine watched the screens anxiously while the sounds of Nida's fingertips dancing across the keyboards filled the silence of the security office.

OoO

Squall's brows knit together in a deep frown as he listened to Irvine's breathless report. Zell, Kerei and he had subdued the laboratories and were in the process of stealing data and samples for evidence but the moment he had learnt Selphie was in trouble Squall had dashed off. Now standing in the security office with Quistis, Irvine and Nida, Squall felt anxiety thrum throughout his body.

"We change plans. Zell and Kerei have the labs under control, they're both adept fighters and they'll be okay. Nida: keep an eye on them. Irvine, Quistis: find Michelle, if Bril is there subdue him if he isn't, continue to search the mansion. If you need to move Michelle here that's fine, do so and contact Rinoa. I'm going to find Selphie, if Bril is with her, I'll subdue him and contact you all." Squall instructed firmly.

"Almost got it... the West side of the mansion is disabled... just got the North done... hitting South now..." Nida announced, his voice tight.

"Let's go," Squall ordered.

OoO


	29. Chapter 29

AS29

OoO

Selphie almost got away. She was so close to the door that would take her outside that her fingertips were sliding down the wooden panelling. The hiss of metal sheeting falling along the other side of the door and the sight of the windows being similarly covered told Selphie she was out of luck.

And that was when Tom Bril caught up with her.

She heard his footsteps muffled on the entrance carpet before she turned around. His clawed fingers raked towards her and brutally dug themselves into her hair and scalp. Selphie screeched in pain and slammed her fists against the door in futile hopes of escaping. He hauled her backwards and using the momentum Bril generated Selphie swung her fist into his face, clobbering the man to the side and causing him to lose his grip on her. She tried to scramble past him as he roared and jumped to his feet but the hallway was too narrow and she was surrounded on all sides by his servants.

He jumped on her as she spun to block his attack. His heavier bulk dropped Selphie to her knees and she spat at him as he crushed her to the carpet. A rain of blows fell on her unarmoured body and Selphie bit her lip to keep from crying out loud as she sprawled awkwardly on the floor. She didn't want to give him the satisfaction of knowing she was in so much pain. She felt his fingers tangled again in her hair and couldn't keep the tears from squeezing out from behind shut eyes. He tore the radio communication bracelet off her wrist and flung it viciously down the hallway before hauling her back to her knees.

"You—Will—Not—Stop—Me!" Tom Bril snarled, dragging Selphie down the polished hallway and digging his fingers cruelly into her hair.

Selphie tried in vain to swipe at him but his longer reach kept her awkwardly bent body from even reaching his arm. Her scalp burned as he yanked her by her hair through his maze-like mansion. Tears budded once again in her eyes and she could hear the clashing sounds of armed conflict back in the drawing room. Tom led her stumbling up a flight of stairs and along the second floor hallway before stopping so abruptly she crashed into him and began struggling anew. Spitting in disgust he threw her to the floor and stomped on her back. She yelped in pain and through her drug-hazed vision Selphie saw him open a closet door. Inside the closet was giant glass tube mounted on a technical device. For a moment Selphie stared at it in confusion but she then remembered the reports Irvine had sent back to Garden on his first mission to the BioMedical lab. These were the tubes that humans had been forced into and changed into strange plant-human fusions.

Immediately Selphie screamed and thrashed. Her movements were slow—curse that drugged tea and its infernal potency! Tom had no trouble stepping on her and using his weight to pin her down while his fingers flew over the console controls and opened the tube. He grabbed her by her neck and tossed her in like a broken doll, smiling maliciously as she smashed her fists against the smooth glass tube. Not bothering to indulge in her suffering, Tom Bril closed the closet door and stalked away, leaving Selphie alone.

The closet was dark, lit only by the various lighted buttons on the computer the tube was mounted on. A click above her head made Selphie jerk her head upwards in time to see a little breathing apparatus drop down in front of her. She was prepared to yank it out of its socket and try and use the gaping hole as an escape when the bottom of the tube suddenly started filling with a viscous fluid. Grimacing in disgust as she watched the thick liquid seep inside her boots from four opened vents in the bottom of her tube, Selphie understood why she was given an oxygen device. Reluctantly she clamped it over her mouth and tried not to shudder at the cold sliminess creeping up her body.

_I have to get out of here_, she thought desperately, _I can't seem to break this glass, if I fire a spell in such a contained area I'm going to get hurt, and I have no way of contacting the others!_ Trying hard not to panic Selphie ran her hands down the glass once more as if seeking inspiration. The fluid was nearing her shoulders and now Selphie allowed the tears she had been holding back to drip down her face. As the liquid closed over the top of her head and she squeezed her eyes shut to keep it out. She felt more than heard little clicks as various snaking tubes entered the container and shackled her ankles and wrists. It was disconcerting to be pulled into position, jerked in one direction but moving slowly through the strange liquid. Once she was apparently 'in place' more little snaking tubes coiled around her and she felt tiny pricks of needles be inserted into her body. Terror gripped her before a warm sensation flooded her body and calmed her completely. The panic was gone, the pain of the needles—gone. She could feel small changes in her body, but it didn't matter, she felt content to just stand and let it all happen. Her mind began to narrow and her muscles loosened as the drugs took hold.

OoO

Irvine and Quistis rounded the mansion and both heaved sighs of relief as the metal plating began to withdraw from the windows. Neither SeeD wasted time in bolting through the main doors and taking advantage of the servants' surprise. Even though Bril's employees dressed in suits and demure dresses they were still armed to the teeth. Quistis launched into a vicious attack with Irvine calmly shooting over her shoulder and head, picking off her enemies one by one.

Quistis reflected during the fight how much she trusted Irvine to not hit her. She danced through the melee of men and women, her whip lashing out when long range was possible and when the bodies crushed too close she folded her arms and blasted them with magic. No matter what she did Irvine read the battle fluently and struck out without ever hurting her. She marvelled at his skill. The fight ended abruptly when she realized there were no more targets and Irvine's hand was on her shoulder, steering her around a body. She nodded her thanks briefly and then peered into the living room where Selphie and Michelle had been conducting their interview. Empty.

"Damnit." Quistis bit her lip, "Where would they have taken her?"

"No idea, let's keep looking. Squall will be in here soon too." Irvine headed through the living room and found a hallway leading deeper into the mansion, shrugging at Quistis he started down it.

OoO

"You know, I think they like to give us all the hard assignments," Kerei mused breathlessly as she forcibly threw a scientist over her head and sent him crashing to the ground.

Zell wheezed an agreement as he took a hard knock to the ribs. Spitting a curse he elbowed his attacker viciously in the face and then followed through with a punch that dropped the man instantly. Zell straightened and flicked a lock of hair out of his eyes wondering, not for the first time, where all the guys in lab coats kept coming from.

He and Kerei had burst into the labs as soon as they left the sewers and with Squall had taken over the first of the laboratories. To their dismay, after finishing with the first lab they had encountered room after room of men and women they had to defeat in a tangled maze of labs and experiment rooms. Squall had left to join Nida, leaving Zell and Kerei to fight the frontline of opposition. Some of the scientists ran immediately, but others had retaliated, and retaliated with weapons they had been designing. Zell felt most uneasy about all the chemicals splashed on the floor and was eternally wary of fighting anyone carrying vial, gun, claws, or any OTHER weapon he thought might be covered in a toxin. His protective armour was liberally splashed with liquids and dusts that he couldn't identify, and if the fighting wasn't so distracting he'd probably be trying not to inhale the clouds of _stuff_ that kept flying off him every time someone landed a hit.

As a cluster of four men and women burst into the room shouting angrily at them Zell and Kerei rammed into one of the lab tables and sent it, and everything on it, flying into the newcomers. Shouts turned to screams and broken glass powdered the air and skittered across the floor. Kerei leapt over the table and smashed into one of the scientists as Zell intercepted a wild punch meant for his face and swung his attacker over another table and on to the floor behind him.

Both he and Kerei were slowly wearing down. True, none of their opponents seemed very adept at fighting, but the SeeDs were horribly outnumbered and their attackers just kept coming. Zell watched Kerei stumble and go down, white coats swarming all over her. Swearing he pummelled his way to her and flung bodies off the downed SeeD. She clutched his vest and shook her head as if dizzy.

"Zell... I can't keep up." She panted and swayed where she stood.

Zell felt dread well in his heart as he looked at his teary-eyed protégé. She didn't even have a quarter of the experience and training he did, what had he been thinking letting her take the frontline with him? Shoving Kerei backwards he propelled her towards the emergency exit door they had come through in the first place while fending off the scattering of scientists left, most of which were flinging broken glass at them in an effort to drive them away.

"Get back Kerei, I'm going to summon a Guardian Force, this is going to be... messy." Zell ordered, yanking her up as she fell.

Kerei nodded and moved drunkenly towards the door. As she wobbled along Zell realized her lips were blue and she had strange green shadows underneath her skin. Swallowing hard he gave her a powerful shove that sent her straight through the open door and on to the grassy lawn outside. In the doorway he whirled around, closed his eyes and thought hard at the entity lurking within him. Finding his Guardian Force, the Brothers, Zell hopped out of the labs completely and ruthlessly shoved the magic inside the cavernous room.

Behind him Kerei stirred and felt bile rise in her throat. She retched quietly as the ground trembled and then heaved as the Brother's split the ground. She clawed through the grass to get away from the collapsing building and hoped Zell would be okay. Her eyes burned but she turned them towards the sky anyways and watched what used to be the floor of the lab come crashing down. She wondered dimly why they hadn't thought of using the Brothers before. Her mind swirled and she collapsed into the grass.

Zell sighed in relief at the instantaneous ruin he had created and tripped backwards over some rubble. Moral decisions had to be made quickly as a SeeD but in a split-second judgement he decided that since the scientists had been aware of what they were creating for Bril and apparently okay with the suffering and transmutations they had caused he wouldn't feel remorse for them. He turned around to find Kerei unconscious and swore loudly.

"Rinoa? Can you hear me?" He demanded into his radio watch,

"Zell?" Rinoa sounded far away.

"Kerei is sick, really sick, and I'm covered in poison, back up would be awesome." Zell told her swiftly.

"Where are you?"

"By the lab that just collapsed," Zell watched Kerei start to shiver violently, "Rinoa, hurry."

Stripping off his vest and noticing with relief that none of the liquid on it had seeped through Zell curled Kerei against his chest and hugged her close. He felt a wave of protectiveness wash over him and steadily he began to walk towards the perimeter of the property, knowing Rinoa would be coming from her safe spot behind the gates.

OoO

Squall darted through the entry way of the mansion moments after Quistis and Irvine had power housed through. He paused in the entrance to note the bodies and decided to pursue a straight course through the mansion. He hadn't gotten very far when the building began to shake and fancy portraits and paintings on the walls came crashing down. Keeping to the centre of the hallways he moved slowly, wondering what the hell had happened. His gunblade traced the carpets gently as he glanced into open rooms and tried in vain to find Selphie.

Selphie. If anything had happened to her... No, best not to think of that. She was a strong woman and could handle a fight. But then again, she had been virtually unarmed, hadn't she? Squall paled and immediately reversed his path, heading for the living room. The room was mostly unchanged though a number of paintings had dropped and one tall potted plant had tipped over. The silence was unsettling. Selphie's bag was stashed beside the couch and from it he was relieved to find her nunchakus. He slung the bag over his shoulder and jogged back to the hallway he had been investigating. The mansion was a maze with several floors but he thought he should check the main floor first and then head upwards.

As he navigated the mansion Squall became aware of the silence. He halted abruptly. If he were truly moving towards one of the SeeDs he should hear something, at the very least—combat. He licked his lips and turned slightly, surveying the hallway he had just toured. He could hear nothing. Gritting his teeth he began to run back to the entrance. He'd try the second floor.

OoO

Michelle stirred slowly feeling a dozen different aches flare along her body. Her eyes opened and she blinked away the haze to see that she was in some sort of supply chamber for a laboratory. Hesitantly she stood up, amazed that no one had restrained her at all. She was further bewildered to find her little knives still hidden under her clothing. Not searched either? Was it possible the servants employed in Bril's mansion were really just servants with no special training? Michelle frowned wearily and tried to force her tired brain to function. She could have sworn the servants had been armed when they surrounded the room and took hold of her. Why had they left her armed?

The door was predictably locked and Michelle grimaced, suddenly aware of what happened the last time she had been locked in a tiny room. A quick search yielded nothing of use—spare glass vials, row upon row of microscopes, vial holders, little desk top burners, metal tongs, safety glasses and coats. She moved to the back of the room and glanced up at the ceiling. No vents large enough to squeeze her body through. Numbly she wondered if the reason they hadn't bother to tie her up or strip her was because they knew she was as good as trapped in this tiny room.

The moment she felt acceptance of her fate close in on her the room began to thunder and shake. She shrieked and dropped to the ground, shielding her head with her arms as glass rained down on her. Was this an earthquake? Michelle looked around her at all the broken equipment and then inspected herself for damages. Nothing major, only a few cuts. She sighed in relief and kicked away as much of the glass as she could. Well, at least the place hadn't caved in on her.

OoO

Irvine swore as they found yet another empty room. He and Quistis had traversed deep into the labyrinth of the mansion only to find it nearly deserted. His gut gnawed at him with anxiety for Selphie and Michelle. In front of him Quistis was pale and looking worse for wear. The mud had long since chipped off her face but her clothing was in shambles and bloody rents showed starkly through the dirty material from the few patrols they had found early on.

"This is stupid," Quistis announced angrily, "They're not here. Let's try another floor."

"Yeah," Irvine choked on the word and turned around abruptly before Quistis could see his eyes fill with tears.

Quistis reached forward and grabbed his arm and pulled him back. Irvine wasn't sure how it happened but her quick movement unbalanced him and he crashed in to her. He stuttered out an apology but the words died in his throat as Quistis held him gently from behind. He held his breath and glanced down at her over his shoulder.

Crystalline blue eyes gazed back at him as Quistis locked her sapphire gaze on him. Irvine felt a flush rise to his cheeks and hoped she didn't notice.

"Selphie will be okay, Irvine." She said quietly, releasing him and stepping away, "We will find her, or Squall will. She's tough. She's a SeeD."

"Y-yeah." Irvine nodded and took a deep gulp of air, he managed a smile, "Thanks, Quistis."

"No problem, Cowboy." A strange look passed over her features before disappearing, "Let's go."

As they closed in on the lobby they were nearly trampled by Squall who came careening out from another hallway. His eyes were unfocused and he was as pale as Quistis.

"Squall!"

"Quistis! I couldn't find Selphie, I'm going to try the second floor." Squall said breathlessly as he slowed.

The three SeeDs all looked up the staircase. At its top landing the stairs branched to the left and right to ascend to the third floor while a hallway spanned out of sight leading further down the second floor. Quistis and Irvine both nodded, "We'll take the third." Irvine confirmed.

"Did you feel that shaking earlier?" Quistis suddenly asked Squall, "It hit us just after we got inside."

"Yeah, no idea what it was. We can't worry about it. I'll see you two later." Squall nodded and then sprinted up the staircase.

Quistis sighed quietly, knowing the reason Squall was so focused. Selphie. She hoped her friend was okay. Irvine followed suit and then he and Quistis each took a staircase up to the third floor. Quistis hopped lightly to the top of the third landing and then frowned. She had assumed the two branches would connect to the same hallway but Irvine was nowhere in sight and a wall blocked her view of where the right-hand staircase should have ended. Biting her lip she decided to continue her path alone and hope one of them found the two missing SeeDs.

OoO

As he cleared the last step Irvine turned to see if Quistis had beaten him to the top. A blank wooden wall met his gaze and Irvine hesitated. Did the hallways not connect? Well, if Quistis wasn't calling him she was probably okay with them splitting up. Sighing softly Irvine turned and plunged along the third floor corridor. With both of them looking simultaneously Irvine hoped they'd find the two missing SeeDs faster.

Irvine was painfully aware of the seconds ticking past as he wandered down hallways, opening doors and peering inside only to find empty rooms. Most of the rooms looked like offices but he found guest rooms and bathing chambers, tiny conservatories and little studios scattered amongst rooms clearly meant for working in. It seemed an odd combination to him but Irvine was beyond trying to understand the Bril mansion.

He was beginning to feel like a failure. The mission had gone wrong right from the get-go. He had failed to save Quistis and Michelle the first time things had gone awry and now it was happening all over again with Selphie and Michelle. He suddenly wished he had been able to talk to Selphie alone before they had split up for the mission. He had said sorry, oh, how many times had he said sorry now! But it wasn't enough. Selphie was his best friend and would always hold a dear place in his heart. The thought of losing her made his the muscles in his chest tighten and he had to choke down a sudden lump of emotion. He didn't think Squall quite understood how much the petite brunette meant to Irvine, then again, maybe Squall would come to learn just how amazing Selphie was. Irvine was happy for the two of them, if they could make it work, if Selphie was okay...

Resolutely Irvine tore his mind from Selphie's wellbeing. Quistis was right, Selphie was tough and if anyone could survive an emergency situation like this one it'd be her. No doubt they'd escape the mansion only to find her sitting on the curb outside tapping her nunchakus to the cobblestone impatiently. Quistis knew Selphie well, the two of them were closer than Irvine had realized. Quistis always seemed half a step detached from the rest of the SeeDs but she had subtle close bonds with both Squall and Selphie. Irvine wondered if Selphie and Squall knew Quistis as well as she did them. He wondered if _anyone_ knew Quistis well. Irvine sighed. He felt a desperate need to prove to Quistis that he could be reliable and do something _right_ for a change. A sudden desire to do something heroic flooded him but he crushed it with effort. Quistis would not be impressed with pitiful male machismo.

Irvine sighed. Do the mission, get through this, _then_ court the Ice Queen.

OoO

Squall hit the second floor and glanced down the hallway. Doors, doors and more doors. Trying to stifle his impatience he wrenched the first door open and found himself immediately under attack. Jumping back in surprise and bringing his gunblade up to deflect a fast slash he raced to count his opponents. It seemed like there was about eight men and women crammed in the room by Squall's quick count and he knew if he let them get into the hallway they'd surround him. Unleashing a frenzy of blows Squall pushed the first two fights back into the doorway and tried to hold his place there.

Crammed into the room as they were, Squall's opponents could only come at him two at a time. It was a merciless slaughter as Squall drove through them and brutally cut each of his enemies down. When he finished he peered into the room, ignoring the stench of blood, and found it empty. Growling softly he slammed the door shut and stalked to the next.

"Die!"

Squall swore and gutted the man instantly as he sprang from the room. Immediately the attacker's comrades launched themselves at Squall and he found himself in another bloody melee. It occurred to him swiftly that if each of the rooms was packed with enemies then Bril probably _really_ didn't want the SeeDs to make it down the hallway alive. The thought cheered Squall immensely and a feral grin lit his face, making Bril's guards blanch. Time to find out what Bril was hiding.

OoO

Quistis wiped sweat off her brow and looked at the unfortunate ruin of a guard she had just dispatched. Messy. Stepping over the body she continued down the hallway until she came to an end with a single metal door. She studied the door cautiously, noting that unlike the rest of the hallway this door wasn't wood and it appeared as if the carpet cut off beyond it. _Something new_.

She stood back, merely observing the metal door and the area around it. No cameras that she could see. She placed her hand on the door and only felt cool metal beneath her skin. Hesitantly she pressed her ear to it, but again—nothing. Taking a deep breath she reached for the handle and slowly turned it down. Locked. Relief loosened the tension in her shoulders. An unlocked door would have aroused suspicion, a locked metal door at the end of a hallway seemed to make perfect sense. Cocking her head, Quistis pondered the door.

Backing up three more steps, Quistis took out her whip and pressed her lips together. Magic surged within her and she narrowed her eyes, "Firaga!"

The door glowed red and Quistis watched the air ripple with heat. She smiled in satisfaction, "Blizzaga!"

A piercing shriek of metal echoed through the hallway as the door simply fell to pieces. Quistis hopped back to avoid the metal chunks and then glanced beyond the ruined door. A plush room lay beyond it, a fire crackled in a fireplace. Bookshelves lined the walls, save where gold-framed paintings hung, and a pair of over-stuffed, velvet chairs were placed perfectly for a cozy fireside conversation. One of those chairs was empty.

The other wasn't.

Quistis couldn't help the tiny quake up her spine when Tom Bril looked up and smiled at her. His eyes were cold and the smile hung oddly on his face. He beckoned her forward. Squaring her shoulders Quistis strode inside the room, her peripheral vision letting her know she was safe, they were alone. Well, Quistis thought, she was as safe as she could get alone in a room with criminal mastermind. Tom gestured to the other chair but Quistis simply glared at him.

"It is rude to reject the hospitality of your host," Bril murmured, he had a glass of wine in one hand and watched her while he took a sip.

"I want you to tell me everything about Shimmer Stone Dust," Quistis demanded coldly.

"That? That is what you want to know from me?" Bril sighed and leaned back in his chair, "You might as well sit, it's a long story."

Quistis pressed her lips together but did as he bade. She remained stiffly upright in her seat and locked her eyes on Bril's while she waited for his answers. He poured her wine and leaned back into the chair again. Sighing.

"We were just kids when we found it. We grew up in the area together, my friend and I—"

"Malach." Quistis supplied icily.

"Yes," Bril's eyes unfocused, he didn't seem to even notice her cold tone, "Malach and I grew up together as boys, we used to play and build forts in the forest s around our houses. We would go on long excursions into the wilderness. I don't remember how we found the caves. We visited them endlessly after that. It wasn't until we were accepted to Trabia and decided to bring organic samples from the caves to our chemistry class that we realized what we had. We tested it on animals before testing it on humans. We had found a perfectly organic drug! It became the perfect resource for both of us. We could fund all of our projects with it—it was our new money.

"Malach had plans of his own and we parted ways. We stayed in touch, of course, he's my best friend. We've linked our businesses, we help each other grow, but he wanted to stay in the weapon's development field, with Dust I knew I could pursue whatever I wanted. It looks harmless, people love it, it was an instant-seller. You can employ workers on the promise of Dust alone!"

Bril's dreamy voice turned incredulous on the last sentence but he continued to ignore Quistis, "It is amazing how such a simple product can finance all my dreams and ambitions. Truly amazing. Malach, I do not think, realizes the potential. He holes himself in his labs and does not concern himself with lofty dreams. I doubt he would even have thought of its social control properties if he hadn't visited me and seen its effects. When Trabia was destroyed it was a huge set back to our work, we wanted our research and it was buried under the rubble. We couldn't afford having authorities 'generously' go and dig it out for us. But Dust is magical… we could simply use it to find street rats to retrieve the laboratory work for us."

Quistis glared frostily at Bril. It was as if he recognized no consequence for his actions. A small part of her was pleased though, by explaining his reasoning she had enough justification to dispatch him and he had provided confirmation that he was directly involved in the raids on Trabia. Her mind swirled in awe at how complex the situation had become. To have orchestrated this entire sequence of events…! Bril was a mastermind of sorts, to maintain the production of Dust for so long with no detection. She came out of her thoughts to the realization that Bril was no longer speaking, and his eyes were no longer glazed over in reflection. He was watching her with dark, stony eyes.

"Dust is the means to every end I can imagine." Bril said softly, his gaze locked on hers, "You cannot stand in my way."

The temperature in the room seemed to drop as the twin intense gazes of Quistis and Bril bore into each other. Slowly they stood, wine glasses placed delicately on the table between them. In the centre of the room was a carpet woven of rich reds and ambers. Bril stood at one end, his polished boots sinking into the plush fibres. Quistis took place opposite him, never once letting her eyes leave his. One false move…

The fireplace cracked and sparks shot against the surrounding bricks. Quistis unslung her whip and let its coils fall to the floor beside her, keeping the hilt in a white-knuckled grip. Bril seemed weaponless but she knew better than that. He had all of Malach's weaponry at hand, surely. Belatedly, she wished she had told Rinoa where she was going. Having a healer back her up might have some in handy.

"You will not leave here alive, Quistis," Bril whispered softly.

Quistis felt a sharp jolting sensation rocket through her heart when he used her name. Gamely she squared her shoulders, breathing deeply, "Prove it." She hissed.

Tom smiled and unbuttoned his blazer. It dropped to the floor in a puddle of grey silk. His white, perfectly pressed, button down shirt was next. He smiled at her, another smile that failed to reach his eyes, as his fingers deftly undid the buttons. Quistis watched as the shirt slithered off his body, revealing a sculpted torso beneath it. Then she saw his arms. Bril noticed the split-second frown that crossed Quistis' features.

"What do you think of them?" He asked her in the same soft voice.

"What have you done to yourself," Quistis demanded, shaken.

"The organic material in the caves can be altered you know," He replied, his voice honeyed with amusement, "it does not have to be a parasitic relationship between crystals and human host, we can turn it into something more wonderful, something…. Symbiotic."

Quistis felt the blood drain from her face as she stared at Bril with new-found horror. His arm began normally but a hardened shell wrapped around his skin just above the elbow and crystalline tentacles pulsed against his flesh, entwined almost lovingly with his arm. She licked her lips and struggled not to show her unease. How much of his body was like this? What would those tentacles do for him? She stared at him harder and realized that the crystal shell creature had even burrowed _into_ his arm in places. The flesh around those tunnelling tentacles was slightly raised and blue-hued. Nauseated, Quistis swallowed hard and resolved to have this battle over as soon as possible.

"Malach was quite taken with you, Quistis," Bril said conversationally, "He will be saddened to know you are dead."

Quistis didn't bother replying, she simply unleashed her whip with a crack and launched straight into the fight. Bril gave her a feral grin and blocked the shot with his strange arm. They had begun.

OoOoO


	30. Chapter 30

AS30

Selphie hung motionless from the tubes coiled around her limbs. Her mind was warm and murky, no thoughts formed; there was only the brief acknowledgement of hazy sensations. Somewhere in the very back of her mind her body resisted the chemicals flooding inside her, but without being able to process her environment Selphie was helpless to the transformation. Her eyebrows drew together slowly as a pressure in her head began to form. The pain counteracted some of the numbing drugs and she was able to focus on it, questioning what the mysterious pain was. It slowly became worse, a deep ache inside her mind, an angry ache. Could aches be angry? Selphie didn't know. This one felt angry.

The anger and pain turned to heat. She winced. She wanted to take a deep breath but the oxygen device strapped to her mouth only allowed her regular inhalations. The heat increased. She fidgeted. Something was wrong. She was in a tube, wasn't she? What was that ache in her head? Why was she hot? The pressure mounted and she struggled against her bonds in agitation. Her ability to flex her limbs made the pressure seem to hesitate. She could feel questioning inside her mind, questioning and... heat?

Ifrit.

Selphie's mind grappled clumsily towards the GF's presence. Ifrit was with her. He didn't want to be in the tube. Desperately she floundered towards his soul and tried to convey her panic and fear.

OoO

Squall paused in the hallway to cast a brief series of curing spells. He felt a cooling sensation course through his limbs and watched as cuts and bruises seamlessly healed and faded away. He wished he had brought water and licked his dry lips. Curing spells accomplished many amazing things but they couldn't restore your energy. Eventually he would be run down.

Not without Selphie.

Clenching his gunblade in a white-knuckled grip, he strode forward through the second-floor hallway he now affectionately thought of as The Gantlet. Each room spilled forth adversary, each cluster of men and women fought with a level of desperation that made Squall wonder what was going on. He pressed through each battle, searching every room in the hallway and growing steadily more frustrated with the distinct lack of petite brunette. Her nunchakus slapped against his back while he fought, a constant reminder of his goal. As a solider he knew sometimes you had to leave a comrade behind… but that was last resort, absolutely last resort, and he would do everything he could to save her.

He was nearing the end of the hallway with two remaining doors. As he strode towards one purposely the door exploded open and Squall jumped back in surprise. People practically fell out of the door in their haste to get out and completely ignored Squall as they shot past. Suddenly full of unease, Squall cautiously eased towards the open doorway and looked inside. Near the back of the room was a man leaning casually against the wall. He held two chains, one in either hand, that snaked and looped all over the room. Connected to the chains were too giant monsters, hybrid men and plant. Squall's teeth clenched in disgust.

The man looked up at Squall and smiled, then he dropped the chains with a casual gesture.

"You must be one of the infamous SeeDs," he said, "I had hoped we would have struck a working business arrangement."

Malach!

Squall lunged for the man but the two plant-creatures had launched into action. Squall found himself in a tangle of limbs and vines, battling two monsters that reeked of rotting vegetation and human sweat. They were both infernally strong, able to block his gunblade with thick green arms, and able to pick him up and hurl him as if he were a doll. Squall felt ringing in his head as he bounced off the plaster wall behind him and fell to his knees. The monsters were slow on their feet and lumbered towards him as he staggered upright. He had barely raised his gunblade when a giant rubbery green arm slapped him across the face, sending him reeling backwards and crashing into the wall once more. Dizzied and faintly nauseous from the disgusting odour of the monsters, Squall had trouble remaining upright. He needed to end this soon.

"Flare!" Squall threw his arm out, summoning magic and casting it directly into the faces of the plant creatures.

Fire exploded into creation and the stench of burning compost filled the room as the two creatures roared in pain and stumbled backwards away from Squall. Thick smoke boiled off of their bodies and Squall hastily cast another round of curaga on himself. One of the plant hybrids recovered enough to lash out at him but with all the smoke in the air, the flailing limb sailed over Squall's head. Trying not to inhale, Squall kept low to the ground and prepared his next move—summoning Shiva.

He kept his body pressed to the wall as Shiva's encasing icicle exploded through the floor. The monsters seemed surprised by her abrupt entrance and halted in confusion—a fatal pause. Shiva destroyed the icicle, around her and sent shards of ice in all directions, while an orb of frosted magic steadily grew between her hands. Squall watched avidly, he never tired of watching his Guardian Force and she never failed to impress when she threw her magic at his enemies. Thick, lethally sharp stalagmites of ice thrust through the floor, crackling as they grew and freezing the monsters to the ground. One of the monsters died instantly as it was impaled by ice.

Shiva spun elegantly on toe and faced Squall. He mouthed a thank you to her; it had always seemed natural to do this. She bowed her head in kind and vanished from the air with only a chill breeze to mark her passing. Squall exhaled and watched his breath hover in the air around him. The room was positively frigid now. The remaining plant creature was crippled, frozen in place and moving sluggishly. Its strange rubbery skin was punctured in dozens of places, and half of the wounds bled red blood, while the other half leaked a glistening translucent green substance. Squall grimaced in distaste and dispatched the creature swiftly.

He was now left in the wrecked room facing Malach. Squall was breathing heavily. He had lost count of how many battles he had fought getting to this room but as he studied Malach the other man didn't seem to be in great shape either. Shiva's attack had left frost burn on his skin but it looked as if he was suffering from previous wounds. Was that from when he faced Quistis earlier? Squall pressed his lips together and hoped he didn't look as exhausted as he felt.

"I don't think a business arrangement will be possible," Squall said quietly, "Your best hope is a swift death."

Malach curled his lip at Squall, "You will fulfill your life's potential as one of my hybrids, Squall!"

They leapt for one another.

OoO

Nida finished unlocking the entire mansion and began to pack his belongings and weapons. Everything he owned had been scattered across the security office when the guards attacked him. One of his guns was depleted of ammo but a small crossbow he had packed was still in good condition. As he reached for it one of the security screens caught his eye. Frowning, he sat up and squinted at it.

"Michelle?" Nida wondered why the SeeD was sitting inside what appeared to be a storage room. He glanced back at the computer and realized her room wasn't on the mechanical lock list.

Nida grabbed the crossbow and his pack and did a thorough search of the office. It took him a while but he finally located a small box of keys. He didn't bother searching for her room, he simply dumped the box in his pack and took off. Maybe he would get to be a hero today. A little one, at least. Nida grinned at the thought. No, save the heroics for the rest of the team. He was just there to unlock doors.

OoO

"How many fingers am I holding up?"

"Ung.. two.. an' a thumb."

"Well, she seems okay." Rinoa smiled and put her hand down.

Kerei sat up slowly and blinked. She felt… awful really, like she had been through a giant battle, poisoned numerous times, and then shoved ungracefully to the ground. Wait.

"You.. you _pushed_ me!" She shrieked, her voice cracking on the last word,

Zell winced, "I had to get you out fast! Listen, Kerei, I want you to guard the perimeter, Rinoa and I need to get inside and find the others, are you okay on your own?"

Kerei nodded slowly, "Yeah, there won't be much action out here, I don't think. I.. I'm sorry I couldn't do more," she mumbled and looked away.

Zell sighed and reached over, ruffling her hair, "You're just barely a SeeD, give yourself some credit, you kept up with me for almost the entire fight. Rest, and stand guard, we'll be back soon, I hope."

She smiled feebly and scooted back, climbing to her feet and walking slowly towards the gate. Zell sighed again, knowing she'd be beating herself up about getting injured but there was no helping that right now. He turned to Rinoa and nodded towards the mansion.

"Let's go." Rinoa nodded.

OoO

"Where do we even begin?" Rinoa asked as she surveyed the wrecked foyer of the mansion.

Zell bit his lip and then nodded to the stairs, "Let's head up."

They both ran up the stairs and began to jog down the hallway. It didn't take long before they heard the sound of combat and the tell-tale sounds of a gunblade firing. Both broke out into a run and nearly overshot the room with Squall and Malach. The air tasted heavily of burnt magic and Zell was appalled to see Squall looking so ragged.

"it's a good thing he has a closet full of jackets like that one," Rinoa observed quietly from behind him,

"Er, what?" Zell stared at her,

"He has a closet full of jackets. Like that one." Rinoa pointed, "How do you think he's kept it looking so pristine over the years?"

Zell felt his mouth drop. He looked back at Squall, and then back at Rinoa.

"We should probably join him." Rinoa said helpfully, giving Zell a nudge,

"What about his pants? Does he have more of his pants?" Zell asked.

Rinoa rolled her eyes and shoved the martial artist into the room. She strode in herself and nearly fell flat on her face when she slipped on ice. Zell caught her arm and jerked her upright, shooting her a look and making her roll her eyes again.

OoO

Squall dodged an attack by Malach. The weapon's designer was apparently more taken by Quistis than they had originally gathered—he had made a botanical whip in similar fashion to her Save the Queen and it oozed poisons all down it length. Squall had strings of the strange liquid all over his jacket. Thankfully he had an entire closet of them back home to replace this one. He darted closer to Malach and slashed viciously with his gunblade. The nimble scientist jumped back quickly but a shallow score across his ribs burst with red. The blood slowly trickled down his chest, mingling with the myriad of other cuts Squall had deposited there.

Malach swore and drew back his arm for another snap of his whip when suddenly blue motes of light circled around Squall and flared in little blue and indigo bursts of colour. Squall inhaled sharply as the curing magic flooded his body and he shot a glance to the door to see Rinoa concentrating on her spell casting. Back up had arrived.

"We gonna apprehend this bitch?" Zell yelled at Squall as he half jumped, half slid his way to Squall's side.

"Yeah." Squall nodded, falling into a fighting position once more.

Malach did not look quite as confident at the arrival of two more SeeDs and he glanced at the door as if seeking escape. Rinoa narrowed her eyes at him and shouldered Shooting Star, aiming straight at him. Malach's hesitation gave an opening to Zell who sprang for it, slamming both fists into Malach's wounded torso. The green-eyed man tumbled backwards in pain, one arm wrapped protectively over his ribs, the other snapping his whip at Zell. Zell took the blow head on and recoiled as poison sunk instantly through his armour with a faint sizzling sound.

"Uhh?" Zell looked at Squall uncertainly,

"It won't hit you immediately. He must have struck me dozens of times before the poison took effect, it'll slow you and drain your energy," Squall commented as he blocked a shot from Malach and returned fire, "Rinoa! Cast Regen and Esuna on Zell!"

She yelled something back but Squall's attention had focused on Malach. Malach ripped a handful of small orbs out of his pocket and threw them violently at the ground. Assuming they were bombs, Squall and Zell each jumped backwards and ducked behind the large icicles filling the room for protection. A crackling sound emerged from the orbs as they broke open and a painfully familiar sweet scent filled the air.

"I am getting really sick of this." Squall growled,

"That's the stuff, isn't it? Like, the stuff?" Zell croaked, skittering backwards,

"Yeah. Let's finish this. Now." Squall scrambled around the icicle he had been hiding behind and ran towards Malach with Zell hot on his heels.

Malach grinned viciously and lashed out with his whip. Zell jumped over the whip, Squall dove under it, and Malach yelled in shock as Rinoa's Shooting Star streamed through the air and severed the botanical whip near the hilt. Squall bounced back to his feet and swore as the Shooting Star hit the wall and rebounded straight at his face. He threw his gunblade up and used the flat of the blade to ricochet Rinoa's weapon away from his head. There was a dull thunk as the wide metal disc slammed elegantly into Malach's forehead, knocking him out cold.

Rinoa crept closer and joined Squall and Zell as they stared at Malach. It wasn't quite the ending they had expected.

"Nice shot, Rin." Squall managed.

"Well. You deflected it." She shrugged, eyeing the unconscious man.

"So. Um." Zell nudged Malach's foot but it merely swayed lifelessly, "I'll take him outside and rope him up with Kerei, you two keep going?"

"Selphie! Yes." Squall gasped, face suddenly pale, "I need to find her."

"I'll go look for Quistis, Michelle or Irvine." Rinoa nodded.

Zell remained behind to tie up Malach while Rinoa and Squall ran out the room. Squall pointed upstairs to Rinoa, knowing Quistis and Irvine would be up there somewhere. As she darted away Squall began to jog down the hallway. The place was quiet now but as he kept walking he noticed something strange. Was it getting warmer?

OoO


	31. Chapter 31

AS31

Quistis climbed slowly to her feet, dazed from another head shot. She knew she wasn't strong enough to fight Bril, her only hope was to stall long enough for backup to arrive. Her mind was clouded and she realized she was close to reaching her limit, dimly she wondered if Malach had told Bril that Quistis now had adopted one of their attacks as her own. It might be worth surprising him. Standing straight she gulped a breath of air and tried not to sway. She recognized all of her ailments—confusion, intense fatigue, poisoned, her health slowly draining from her. Her curative magics were exhausted, all she could do is hold out for as long as possible.

To her credit, Bril did seem at least mildly wounded. Quistis pursed her lips in dissatisfaction. Every time one of his hits landed he drained her health and assumed it as his own, his wounds would slowly close up and render her efforts meaningless. He was immune to all toxins and poisons as far as she could tell.

"You've lasted longer than I had expected," his smooth voice broke their silence as he watched her struggle to remain upright, "I underestimated you."

Quistis couldn't manage a reply, her head swam and she felt nauseous. In the span of a blink, Bril had raced across the room and picked her up by her throat, smiling up at her as she hung in his super-human grasp. Quistis choked quietly, eyes closed, tears beading at her lashes. She couldn't do anything… nothing at all. Bril flung her at the wall and she felt the impact dully through her numbed body. She crumbled to the floor with books falling all around her from the shelves. The once-plush room was ruined. Magic scorched the walls; the chairs were torn to shreds. Puddles of water sat slowly seeping into the carpet. Quistis held her head and tried to focus. She reached for the bookshelves behind her and used them to leverage her back to her feet.

"Homing Laser." She gasped hoarsely, her Limit Break consuming her.

Bril clearly didn't expect a powerful attack, and he reeled backwards as the blinding white lasers struck him. Quistis slumped back to the ground, holding her head. Bril climbed to his feet and snarled something at her, lunging across the room to backhand her painfully across the face. Quistis felt bone shatter and she blacked out for a moment as her head struck the wall.

"Hey!" An angry female voice shrieked from the doorway, "Curaga!"

Quistis sighed in relief as a cooling sensation flooded her body. The soothing voice wasn't done though. Protect… Esuna… Shell… Quistis stood up and shook her head slightly, dazzled by the motes of light surrounding her. She yawned delicately behind her hand and smiled at a stunned Tom Bril. Rinoa strode into the room looking furious.

"FLARE!"

The fiery explosion consumed the entire room and Quistis moved to stand beside Rinoa, grateful for her friend's timely arrival. As the light of the magic flickered out they saw Bril, heavily scorched, stumble forward. His expression was pure rage and when he yelled at them spittle flecked over his lips.

"You will not leave here alive!"

As he flung his arms out the strange shell life began to glow and extend. Rinoa recoiled, suddenly noticing the changes he had made to his body. A writhing form began to crawl up his pant legs and both SeeDs took a step back in horror. Bril began to laugh as the clothing stretched and finally ripped off his body. Quistis choked. He was becoming encased in the hard shell material, it unfolded over him like armour and as it traveled small tentacles shot out and then buried themselves in his flesh. Rinoa made a noise of disgust and averted her eyes from the grotesque scene.

"You do not understand, you cannot defeat me." Bril smiled cruelly, "I am more than you can ever imagine."

Quistis bit her lip and then made a split-second decision. No point in letting him finish whatever transformation he had planned. She hopped forward and threw her arms out.

"ULTIMA!"

Tim Bril laughed and held up his hands. Rinoa screamed as he simply absorbed the magic, making his body glow for a moment. Quistis gasped and took another step back. This was not good.

"Better not use magic." She muttered to Rinoa. The dark-haired SeeD nodded grimly.

Rinoa raised her Shooting Star and fired as Quistis jumped forward and snapped out Save the Queen. Bril laughed again and batted away the projectile. He grabbed Quistis' whip and pulled her towards him, crushing her against his chest and beginning to drain her energy while she struggled to escape. Rinoa cried out and tried to fire again but Bril knocked the weapon straight out of the air. Lifting Quistis like she was a toy he strode over and slammed his armoured fist into Rinoa, knocking her to the ground with ease.

OoO

Irvine's patience was rapidly running out. He felt he wandered for hours through the mansion and had a feeling he was walking in the exact opposite direction of everywhere he should be and everyone he could be helping. Clenching his teeth he batted another door open in another plush hallway. Peering in his temper momentarily stilled. Yes, another office, but... this one seemed different. Irvine stepped inside quietly and looked around. The office was far larger than any of the others and through the massive bay windows Irvine could see he was now at the far back of the mansion, nearly diagonal of where he originally started. On one side of the room there was typical furniture—a large desk, chair, bookshelves crowded with tomes and sheaths of paper, a plush carpet his shoes sunk into, and on the other side of the room it looked like a tinker's workshop. Tables were cluttered with various objects, tools were scattered across every surface. Irvine briefly rifled through the papers on the desk and was pleased to find supply lines for Dust, lists of customers and payment receipts for shipments. He folded some of the evidence up and crammed in into an inside pocket in his trench coat.

Moving to the workshop side of the office he searched around, picking up various tools, none of which were familiar to him. Pieces of shell lay in between chunks of metal and glass and Irvine frowned, pushing his lips slightly. What was going on here? His attention was caught by a pin board attached to the wall above one of the tables. Design plans were tacked to the cork surface and bore the name of Malach. They looked unofficial... a friend's scribblings sent over to share. Irvine licked his lips slowly and studied the weapon Malach had apparently been building. It was a sleek gun and Irvine had to admit he wanted to add it to his collection if there was one already made. Another design plan was on the table beneath it, folded up. Irvine quickly unfolded it and his eyebrows shot upwards in surprise.

Malach was making bullets out of Dust? Irvine sat down heavily on a stool that had been pushed out of the way. He looked at the scant write-up Malach had offered for his friend, Bril. The bullets, depending on their weight, could provide an overdose in a matter of seconds. The design of ammunition included a very sharp tip that would fragment once embedded in flesh, exposing blood vessels in a wide area upon contact and provide ample opportunity for the drug to enter the blood stream. Irvine shivered, knowing that death by overdose would be a horrible way to die.

He looked at the table again and noticed a small box, opened, with two bullets half-rolled out. Hesitantly he picked up the box and poked the bullets back inside, noticing there were more stacked nicely. He studied their shape and size and then pulled out his Exeter, examining his beloved weapon. The bullets would fit. Wondering if this was a smart move, Irvine loaded half of the bullets into his gun, pocketed the designs and took off. Time to go find his friends.

OoO

Squall hurried down the hallway, beginning to sweat. He could see the end of the hall looming closer and wondered if it would wrap around the rest of the mansion in a giant square. So engrossed in his thoughts he almost missed it. Half way past a closet door Squall jerked to a halt and immediately jumped away from the tiny room. The carpet was scorched and the air around him flickered with intense heat. Squall wiped the sweat off his forehead and backed up to the opposite wall, staring hesitantly at the door. What on earth had Bril hidden in there?

Just as Squall was reaching out, preparing to use his gunblade to nudge the door open, a sharp cracking sound made him jerk back and immediately duck. The sound of shattering glass was immediately followed by the explosion of the closet door, spraying fragments of wood and fire out into the hall. Squall covered his face as he was pelted with burning slivers and then gasped as a deluge of liquid gushed out over the carpet, immediately putting out the burning scraps littered across the hallway. Squall lowered his arm and felt his eyes widen as he watched Ifrit step outside of a broken capsule. The Guardian Force's body could barely be contained in the small space and he tore chunks out of the wall merely by removing his huge fiery bulk from the closet. Ifrit stared at Squall for a moment and then slowly began to fade away. Squall held his breath, he knew exactly who was junctioned to Ifrit.

Selphie tumbled out of the closet space, soaked to the skin and covered in strange cables and tubes. Squall rushed forward and caught her, yanking the medical material out of her body and growling when he realized he had no curing spells left. He gently looked her over and felt tears prick at his eyes when he saw all the tiny injection marks covering her. Selphie's skin was pale, clammy beneath its coating of whatever Bril had stuck in there. Squall swallowed hard and tucked her against his chest, picking her up slowly and then retracing his steps down the hallway.

The sunlight that hit him upon leaving the mansion dazzled his eyes and seemed entirely out of place. Squall squinted through it and saw, to his relief, that Kerei was outside guarding the perimeter. He jogged as quickly as he could to her and saw her eyes widen at the sight of the battered and drenched Selphie.

"I'm out of cure spells," Squall said breathlessly, his voice sounding harsher than he intended.

Kerei held her hands over Selphie and began to chant softly. Coloured motes of light surrounded the petite SeeD and disappeared into her body with little flashes of light. Squall watched intently as the bruises and scratches covering her body began to disappear and the pallid complexion on her face was replaced by a healthy glow. Kerei began round after round of Esuna until both she and Squall were convinced there was nothing left in Selphie's blood to harm her. As she finished her casting, Kerei leaned back with a sigh and then bit her lip anxiously.

Selphie's eyelids fluttered and Squall leaned over her intently. She opened her eyes and stared up at him, for a moment just staring and not really seeing. Squall watched her emerald eyes suddenly snap in to focus and she inhaled sharply, struggling to get into a sitting position. Squall gently helped her up, scared to place any pressure on her body even though he knew she had been healed of her wounds. She stared at him again and swallowed hard before flinging herself into his arms.

His arms enfolded her in a crushing embrace and Selphie could dimly hear Squall chanting her name over and over under his breath. His clothes smelled of smoke and magic and his jacket creaked under her tightly clinging fingers; she pulled herself as close to him as she could. Squall lowered his head to hers, not quite touching her but yet only the barest whisper away. Selphie was covered in a strange fluid from the tubes, a small trickle of blood from her scalp had mingled with it, oozing down the side of her neck, and Squall had never been so happy to see her. Finding her at last allowed all the pent up tension in his muscles to drain away. He focused his mind only on her warmth, on her arms pinned between them, clutching him to her, and felt entirely at peace. He wanted to stay in this moment forev—

"...Selphie? ...What are you...?"

Selphie stopped rubbing her face vigorously against his chest and looked up, "I'm covered in goop and using your shirt as a towel to get it off."

Squall looked down at his thoroughly rumpled and now slick shirt.

"..."

OoO

xxxx

Havent forgotten. Still determined to finish =\ So entirely sorry this is taking forever. We're very close to the end though!

xxxx


	32. Chapter 32

AS32

OoO

Irvine backtracked steadily through the mansion. He ran at a light jog, trying not to make a single sound in hopes he would be able to hear fighting or any evidence of his companion's whereabouts. It didn't take him long to return to the staircase and he sprinted down one side, and up the other, immediately tasting magic in the air and hearing the sounds of conflict. Praying that he was running towards a victorious Quistis, Irvine put on speed.

OoO

Nida skirted through the mansion with a ring of keys in his hand. The place seemed deserted—anyone left alive had run for it, it seemed. Still, he kept a hand on his crossbow and treaded swiftly but carefully. Who knew what Bril had hidden in this place. The area that Michelle was stashed in was near the back of the mansion and down a few flights of stairs. As Nida crept through the labyrinth of hallways he noticed there were two sets of footsteps ahead of him—tracks both to and from the storage room, but otherwise a thick layer of dust covered everything around him. So apparently Bril did not come here often? Nida felt somewhat assured by the tracks leaving the hallway… two and two… maybe that meant no one else was down here.

He found the door that held Michelle with little trouble and knocked politely before sliding the key in the lock. He opened the door slowly, and was glad that he did when a shower of glass sprayed forth and clattered all over the floor. Nida ducked back behind the door quickly and shouted out,

"Michelle! It's me, Nida!"

There was a pause and the sound of glass being dropped, "Nida?" Michelle's voice sounded tired.

"Yeah, there's no one else out here, c'mon." He said warmly, opening the door wider so she could see.

The purple-haired SeeD grinned widely at him, "I'm really glad to see you, Nida. Was starting to worry you'd all go home without me!"

"Not a chance," Nida laughed, "Hey, what's that?"

Michelle turned at his inquiry and noticed a few tumbled boxes, "I'm not sure. Something happened and shook all the stuff off the shelf, most of the boxes have empty glass vials and chemistry equipment."

They rifled through the fallen items and discovered several boxes stuffed with file folders pushed against the back wall. The dust-covered boxes were heavy and had been buried at the back of the shelves but when the two SeeDs dragged them out they discovered an absolutely jackpot of information. Michelle squealed with delight as she rifled through the files.

"Wow… all the scientific evidence, planning and schematics for Bril and Malach's work," Michelle whispered in awe.

"Time lines, shipment records… precise measurements… look, even communication between the two of them," Nida whistled.

"Quistis is going to love this," Michelle grinned, putting the files away and then picking the entire box up to take with her.

Nida grinned back and slung his crossbow over his shoulder. He managed to grab the two remaining boxes stacked one on top of the other. Michelle ducked out of the room first, grateful to be out of the tiny storage compartment. Making sure Nida was behind her, the two SeeDs strode out of the mansion.

OoO

Quistis was dying.

The blonde lay on the ground like a discarded doll, waiting for Bril to finish her. Her reserves were burnt out, her magic depleted, and her whip in pieces around her. Her body felt strange... so many broken bones, she could feel the shards grate against one another, and the strange jelly-like consistency to her limbs that made her head swim to think about. Somewhere on the other side of the room she knew Rinoa lay in a similar heap. Neither woman had been able to make so much as a dent in Bril's defenses.

Amidst the pain Quistis tried to collect her thoughts. She had always assumed that before death she would come to profound epiphanies, realizations that would somehow make her death worth more than a failure in battle. She wondered what would happen next… would her friends rally and be able to defeat Bril, or would they fall one by one? What would happen if they all died, would Cid send in more reinforcements? They were the best of the best though, no other SeeD or candidate SeeD could even come close to their power. If Cid left things alone Bril would no doubt find a way to quieten everything that had happened and go on with life…

No, Quistis thought further. Laguna was aware of the situation as well. Worse came to worse they could simply detonate the entire mansion and perhaps that would be enough to kill Tom Bril. She wondered if it would be possible to kill him given his fast rate of regeneration. Her thoughts clouded momentarily and she fought to clear them. It was hard to focus through all the pain.

She wondered if Squall had found Selphie. She hoped her friend was okay, though the realization that the two SeeDs would have to deal with Bril made Quistis' insides quake. What a horrible thought, Quistis chastised herself. Her two best friends had finally found one another, and now might die? They both deserved so much better. How would Irvine feel if he came in after Selphie died? He had loved her sincerely, had simply not been ready for that level of commitment. Quistis' heart bled for him. He would blame himself, of course. Part of her felt a stab of jealousy, that Selphie would have not one, but two men so loving of her. If Selphie died, she would go out cherished and mourned. The loss of Quistis would be seen as a tactical loss, a blow to the school. No, Quistis chastised herself once more, she would be missed by her friends. Missed…

Her thoughts clouded over once more and Quistis couldn't seem to shake the fog away. Pain welled up through her body and overwhelmed her. A dark muddy red colour began to haze over her vision and she surrendered herself to the numbing sensation.

OoO

As Nida and Michelle stumbled out of the mansion into the bright sunlight both squinted and surveyed the destruction around them. Zell had levelled several sets of labs using his Guardian Force and rubble was strewn liberally and several feet deep. They skirted the edge of the mansion and narrowly missed bumping into Zell who was dragging a familiar form.

"Malach!" Michelle hissed venomously.

"He's unconscious," Zell assured her, "I'm taking him over to Kerei, we'll call Balamb and have him picked up."

Nida and Michelle fell into step flanking the martial artist and his prisoner. The afternoon was peaking and Michelle couldn't believe they had already been at the mansion for so long. Time felt blurred. Zell looked like a wreck from all of his fighting and Michelle felt a stab of guilt for playing such a tiny role in the mission. She whispered a round of curing spells on him under her breath and felt a bit better at the smile he flashed her.

"Thanks." Zell said appreciatively, "Kerei is going to be thrilled to see you."

Michelle perked up at the thought, "Yeah!"

When they reached the perimeter, Kerei was indeed happy to see her friend, launching herself from the grass and tackling Michelle into a crushing hug. As the girls caught up with each other Zell slung Malach on to the ground near Squall and Selphie helped Nida stack the boxes of files in the shade. Selphie gave Nida a friendly hug and congratulated him on his and Michelle's find. While Balamb Garden didn't often bring enemies of the world to court, per se, it was always helpful to have evidence explaining their actions.

Squall looked back at the mansion while the rest of the SeeDs updated one another. With the labs destroyed, the mansion stood alone on the manicured lawn, peaceful and picturesque. The sun beat down on them and insects buzzed in the air. Entirely too peaceful. Squall frowned, stood up, and grabbed his gunblade. At his sudden movement, Selphie looked up sharply. He appraised her quietly, healed of her wounds, her eyes dark with thought and memory. His lovely little Selphie.

"Are you going back?" She asked calmly,

"Yeah, we haven't heard anything from the others," Squall replied, _I'm worried_, were his unspoken words.

Selphie bounced to her feet, "I'm coming with you," she announced.

Zell grinned and threw a punch in the air, "Finally, some action!" he crowed.

Squall smiled tightly, "Selphie, Zell, you're with me. Nida, Michelle, Kerei, wait for Balamb to pick up Morgan. Guard him with your life. Stay in contact. Kerei and Nida, go back to Balamb with Morgan, Michelle, you're the new back up healer, restock your curing magics and stay here."

The SeeDs all nodded. Selphie and Zell stalked across the lawn with Squall leading a half step ahead. As they neared the mansion they broke into a light jog. The main staircase opened up before them and all three sprinted up it. Selphie cast a glance at the closet she had been imprisoned in but resolutely turned her mind away from that horrifying experience. She closed her eyes briefly and inhaled slowly.

"There's magic in the air," she remarked softly.

"Hyne, yeah, loads of it," Zell said distastefully, wrinkling his nose, "And… burning, I smell burning."

"Let's run." Squall suggested quietly.

They ran.

OoO

Irvine burst into a ruined lounge, staggering to a stop at the entrance and staring at the room in shock. Flames flickered in places, slowly, gently devouring the room. Books were strewn everywhere, scorched and missing pages. A pair of plush chairs had been reduced to stubbed legs and torn padding, both toppled near what seemed to be the wreckage of a fireplace hearth. Lying, part of the rubble, in pieces, tatters and ash, were Quistis and Rinoa. Irvine froze in horror. Both of them were broken, shattered. Irvine wasn't even sure they were alive.

Staring at them pensively was… Irvine hesitated, Bril? A monster, surely. The remnants of a man, now encased in shell and swollen veins. Limbs were punctured by tentacle appendages and it was no longer clear where one entity began and the other ended. Irvine swallowed. Bril did not seem overly concerned with Irvine's appearance. Bril's eyes were unfocused on Quistis' body, his lips slightly parted and murmuring. Irvine took a step forward and felt his heart jolt as Bril's eyes suddenly snapped to meet him.

"I underestimated that one," Bril said conversationally, nodding towards Quistis, "She had more strength in her than I originally thought."

Irvine looked down at Quistis and quietly prayed that she still lived, "Quistis is the strongest woman I know," he agreed.

"She would have made a good test subject. Imagine, her power, but like me, transformed and unstoppable." Bril glowed for a moment,

"…Ah don' think she'd like that much," Irvine said softly, his accent riding strong on the whisper.

"I suppose you're here to die with them," Bril smiled pleasantly, "I will make it quick."

Irvine sighed and rolled his shoulders, "Wasn't really my goal," he raised Exeter.

Bril stopped and actually barked a laugh, "A _gun_? Really?"

"It's a special gun," Irvine retorted, hurt, "it's an _Exeter_, the last of its kind."

Bril stared at him for a moment, and laughed again. The cowboy resembled nothing more than a disgruntled child to him. Bril raised his arm lazily and smiled, "Goodb—"

Irvine wasted no more time, firing Exeter and aiming straight for Bril's chest. The first bullet smashed into Bril and from the look of shock on the man's face, Irvine knew the bullet had penetrated the shell casing. Bril staggered back and then roared in anger. Irvine gasped as Bril tackled him, moving at lightning speed. Poison shone all over Bril's limbs and Irvine squirmed in horror as he saw it begin to seep through his trenchcoat. Bril's fist closed around Irvine's throat and began to crush the SeeD's windpipe. Irvine tried to gasp for air, tried to break Bril's lock on him, but couldn't. He cocked Exeter at an awkward angle and fired again, higher up on Bril's chest.

Bril was knocked back by the force of the blow. He sat down hard and seemed dazed, staring down at the blood oozing out of his chest in disbelief. Irvine slowly sat up and scooted back to the wall, blinking to clear his vision. He felt nauseous, confused and lightheaded.

"What? What is this?" Bril gasped, "What have you done?"

"Found some pretty bullets in your office," Irvine offered, panting for breath, "Want another?"

He fired again but Bril's reflexes took hold. The evil mastermind raised his armoured arm and deflected the bullet. It bounced back towards Irvine and shattered in midair with a small explosion. Irvine winced as shards embedded themselves in his legs. Bril growled something but Irvine's head was now swimming and clouded. The cowboy squinted at Bril and fired twice more, one bullet as a distractor, and one—

Bril screamed as the bullet lodged straight into his neck. Blood popped and sizzled out of the wound before trickling down his flesh. Irvine sighed and slumped back, realizing his legs were tingling and slowly growing numb. His heart felt thick and heavy. He closed his eyes.

OoO


	33. Chapter 33

AS33

Squall, Selphie and Zell charged through the mansion, following the magic residue in the air and fighting growing senses of panic. There no sounds of battle, only an eerie silence that felt both ominous and lonely. Squall fought his self-doubt but kept wondering if he had made the right decisions. The parties he organized, did they have the right team composition? Should he have ordered his fellow SeeDs to keep together? Ordered them to withdraw and regroup before taking on Bril? Quistis and Irvine were both competent fighters but could they take Bril alone? Had Rinoa joined them in time? He swore under his breath and resolutely focused on running. The past was irrelevant for the moment, he needed to manage the present.

Selphie ran a half-step behind Squall. Her nunchakus brushed against her back with every movement, making her feel secure and prepared for anything. As she ran she examined her bare arms and was pleased to see no evidence of her time in the test tube. She felt a flush of heat ripple through her mind and quietly whispered a thank you to Ifrit, her guardian force. They had been together for so long. She had no idea Ifrit had the power to take charge and self-summon as he had, but the knowledge gave her comfort, she had a backup, no one could truly take advantage of her. She glanced at Squall and could tell from the set of his shoulders as he ran that he was brooding. A brief flicker of worry almost made her say something to him but she pressed her lips together. Now was not the time. After this was finished she would take care of her dark-minded man.

As they cleared the third floor staircase Squall halted so abruptly that both Selphie and Zell crashed into him. Selphie wrapped her hands around his waist and stared up at him with mischief in her eyes, despite the gravity of the situation. Her happiness bubbled up every time she got to touch him. Squall stared down at her, surprised into forgetting his doubts, and smiled shyly. Zell coughed. Selphie and Squall looked back at him questioningly.

"Seriously you two?" Zell asked, "Like really, seriously?"

"…What?" Squall asked

"THE MISSION." Zell cried, flailing his arms.

"Right." Squall nodded, detaching Selphie who pouted, smiled and laughed at Zell's belligerent face-making.

Squall took a deep breath and strode determinedly towards what seemed to be a ruined lounge. The carpet on the floor was burnt away, and the inside was completely trashed. He paused on the threshold and stared, his heart clenching painfully and his doubts rearing their heads and roaring in his ears.

Quistis, Rinoa and Irvine were all lying still. Quistis and Rinoa were barely recognizable they were so injured. Squall heard a choked gasp from Selphie as she rushed into the room and knelt by Quistis, trying to push the blonde's hair out of her face but finding it stuck to her skin with dried blood. Zell moved along the perimeter of the room and crouched by Rinoa, checking her pulse and blanching. Squall swallowed hard and examined Irvine. Of the three he seemed in the best condition. His skin was flushed and beaded with sweat and as Squall neared the cowboy's eyelashes fluttered.

"Irvine, can you hear me?" Squall asked,

A frown flickered over Irvine's brow but no sound came from his lips. Selphie took a shaky breath and picked up the ruin of Quistis Trepe. Selphie brought the blonde over to Squall and sat down, cradling her friend, with her back against the wall.

"Bril's dead." Zell announced with grim satisfaction.

Squall and Selphie looked up immediately and saw Zell drop one of Bril's lifeless arms to the ground, "No idea what happened. Irvine shot him but the wounds look all weird, he's bled out different colours, and he's all swollen."

Zell stepped back in disgust and returned to Rinoa, picking her up and joining the rest of his party. They stared down at their injured with numbness in their hearts.

"Is she…?" Squall began to ask, looking at Quistis,

"We can bring her back," Selphie said with certainty, "Rinoa too. We can."

"…Ah.. tried.."

The rasping voice of Irvine was so soft for a moment Squall wasn't sure he had even heard it. Selphie choked back a cry and brushed irvine's hair back from his eyes, "Irvy?"

"Sefie." Irvine murmured.

"I'm here," Selphie whispered, "Are you okay? Tell us what happened,"

"…Fought Bril. Tried t' save Quistis." Irvine murmured, his head lolled to the side.

"We have to get them out," Zell growled, "out and healed, quickly."

Selphie's fingers brushed Quistis' neck and the little brunette closed her eyes. Was it there? Could she feel it? Trepe's cold skin burned against Selphie's seeking fingertips. Nothing. Selphie's eyes flew open and filled with tears. Zell stared at her and then at Squall, who immediately pulled off his leather gloves and gently pushed Selphie's hand away. He searched.

"It's there, just faint." He said, breathing a sigh of relief, "Do any of you have life spells?"

"Me. Here." Zell gently set Rinoa down and jumped to his feet.

Selphie and Squall watched in silence as Zell cast his spells. Selphie hovered anxiously over Quistis and felt tears start cascading down her face as colour appeared faintly on Quistis' face. Zell cast a quick round of curing spells but announced himself all out. Squall nodded and then climbed to his feet.

"Michelle, can you hear me?" He asked wearily into his communication link,

"Squall! Is everything okay? Did you find the others?" Michelle's sounded like high-strung tin,

"We're in the mansion, third floor, we need you, hurry." Squall replied, shutting off the link and glancing back at Bril's corpse.

"'Suna?" Irvine mumbled into the silence.

"Soon," Selphie soothed, "Michelle is coming. We've blown almost all the magic we had."

"I think we need a vacation after this," Zell sat down and stretched, listening to the pops and cracks from his joints.

"Not yet." Squall replied, "We need to finish this, get Bril's body back to Balamb. Find out what _happened_ and report back to Cid."

"But after?" Selphie asked hopefully,

"Yeah, I think Cid will give us some time off." Squall nodded and then all of a sudden yawned, "…Hyne."

"I'll be glad when this is over." Zell agreed, "Poor girls, they got tossed around this time."

They studied their companions in silence. Rinoa and Quistis looked marginally better, but only marginally. Their faces were lined in pain and their breathing was shallow. Irvine was tumbling in and out of consciousness and they recognized the effects of the poisons Malach and Bril were so fond of using. He had small pieces of shrapnel embedded in his legs and Selphie ached to see him in such poor condition.

Michelle burst on to the scene, panting for breath and skidding to a stop when she saw her friends clustered by the wall. Gulping for air she immediately began casting her magic and soon they were all surrounded by motes of light. Irvine sighed in relief as he felt Michelle's soothing spells cleanse his body of poison. He knew the moment he got back to Garden he'd be paying Dr. Kadowaki a visit but for the moment he felt healthy and strong. Opening his eyes he saw Selphie watching him intently. He managed a crooked smile at her and was rewarded by a dazzling smile. Beside him both Quistis and Rinoa stirred groggily. Zell and Selphie helped the girls to their feet and then Zell passed Rinoa on to Michelle so he could retrieve Bril.

"Um."

The SeeD's turned to look at Zell curiously.

"You know, I don't really want to touch the poison-covered corpse over here." Zell fidgeted a little.

"He raises a good point," Selphie giggled a little, "Maybe we can roll him up in a carpet?...Another carpet," She added after glancing at the charred remnants of the carpet in the room.

"We have the Ragnarok close by, we can use the supplies inside it to fashion a body bag of sorts," Michelle offered.

"Good." Squall nodded, "Leave the body here, Zell, grab whatever you need to transport it back. We really need to get Quistis and Rinoa back to Garden, let's move."

Michelle and Selphie gingerly picked their way through the mansion, carrying their friends in their arms. Selphie tried not to fret at how washed out Quistis looked or the fact that her clothing was soaked with toxins. Making a mental note to get Michelle to cast more rounds of Esuna on all of them after they got back to the Ragnarok, Selphie slowly descended the staircase, trying not to jostle Quistis.

Irvine traced the wall with his fingertips as he walked, trying not to show how unsteady he felt. His legs burned and he knew that the bullet fragments in his leg were still seeping liquid Dust into his blood stream. With only fragments in his leg he didn't think the dosage would be serious enough for any major complications and Kadowaki would make him fit as rain in no time… but getting down those stairs…

"Agh!"

Squall blinked in surprise as Irvine suddenly collapsed on the staircase with a shudder of pain. Kneeling beside the Cowboy Squall began to check him for injures. Irvine saved Squall some trouble and pulled up his pant leg, exposing the shrapnel. At Squall's slow exhale Irvine opened his eyes and gave a sheepish smile.

"Could've told us, Kinneas," Squall growled, sliding Irvine's arm under his shoulder and supporting the lanky cowboy as he stood up shakily.

"Told us what?" Selphie asked sharply, peering over her shoulder,

"He has bullet fragments in his leg," Squall replied as he helped ease Irvine down the stairs,

"We had more pressing issues!" Irvine protested, watching the walls spin around him,

"We'll get the Ragnarok to land as close to us as we can," Selphie replied, "silly Irvy, is there anything else you'd like us to know?"

"…Um." Irvine began, making Selphie's sweet smile disappear and be replaced by a stern frown, "Well. The bullets were from Bril's office.. they uh.. they have a concentrated form of Dust in them."

"…Great." Squall sighed.

They made it out of the mansion with only a few stumbles and it was a relief to be back outside in the sun. Selphie gently laid Quistis down on the grass and Michelle placed Rinoa beside her. Neither of the injured women had opened their eyes yet, slipping into a resting sleep the moment Michelle's curing magics had hit them. Selphie ran her finger down Quistis' ruined clothes, watching burnt fibres simply fall away under her gentle touch. The blonde's hair was scorched and filthy with dried blood, she looked positively unkempt and entirely unlike herself.

They radioed in the Ragnarok and were told to wait while it finished unloading Morgan back at Garden. Given they had minutes to spare, Michelle cast another round of Esunas and began to help Irvine carefully pry any bullet fragments out of his leg that weren't completely embedded. Squall sat down on the grass next to Selphie and studied Trepe's battered figure with a heavy heart. Selphie leaned into Squall and entwined her fingers in his.

"She will not be happy to see her hair like that," Selphie murmured,

"No… no she will not." Squall agreed, "Or her clothes… or the fact that Save the Queen got destroyed."

Selphie sighed, "Yeah, she's going to hate that the most."

"Granted, we all survived so that might be taken as a good thing," Zell remarked drly,

"Who wants to live when your hair is fried?!" Selphie threw her hands up and Michelle giggled at her.

"So Irvine. What happened?" Squall changed the subject abruptly,

"Bril and Malach made bullets with dust in them. An instant-over dose. The bullet casing is remarkable, hard as diamond but it explodes into shrapnel after it hits something. It was hard enough to penetrate that shell he was inside… and I guess… I guess the Dust was too much even for him?"

"With all the added chemicals they put in Dust even Bril probably had no immunity to it." Michelle remarked, "It might be part organic material but remember they added synthetic chemicals to it too."

Selphie shuddered and Squall slung his arm over her, pulling her closer, "Are you going to be okay until we get back to Garden?" Squall asked Irvine,

"I think so.. I only got pieces, most of it burst in the air," Irvine swallowed, "I'll feel better once we're home though."

"Speaking of which, Ragnarok, incoming!" Zell jumped up.

As the ship landed Zell bounded inside to grab material to wrap up Bril's toxic body. Squall, Selphie and Michelle found quarters for Quistis and Rinoa and Irvine trailed after them slowly. When Zell returned he man-handled the body into the cargo hold and resolutely shut the door, wrinkling his nose. He went to the bridge and sat with Michelle and Nida, their pilot for the day.

Selphie scoured the ship for some medi-kits and fresh water and set to cleaning Quistis and Rinoa up. Squall helped her dutifully, not saying much but passing her tools helping her take off some of the ruined clothing their friends were sporting. Spare uniforms on board were too large for either of Quistis or Rinoa's small frames but they warm and comfortable and made the damage look much less severe. Selphie carefully combed Quistis' hair, snipping away scorched bits and raking out flakes of dried blood. Squall cared for Rinoa gently, finding that he had no feelings left for the woman other than companionable friendship. It was a relief, he realized, he glanced over at Selphie and admired her emerald eyes, fiercely intent on fixing her friend. A warm feeling spread through him and Squall dropped his gaze, not wanting the little brunette to see how much he wanted her. Squall's eyes flickered over to Irvine but the cowboy was dozing in the corner. The silence in the room was broken by an odd gurgling sound. Irvine jerked awake, Squall frowned in confusion and Selphie turned scarlet.

"Um. I'm kinda hungry." She laughed sheepishly and her stomach growled again.

"Actually… now that you mention it…" Irvine blinked, "We haven't eaten all day."

"I'll see what food rations we have," Squall offered, packing up the medi-kit he had been using,

"I'll come with you, we can prepare something and bring it to everyone!" Selphie beamed,

"I'll watch the wounded," Irvine smiled weakly,

"Irvy, you _are_ the wounded," Selphie reprimanded him with a cheeky smile,

"Oh like you've never taken damage before," Irvine scowled at her,

"Considering she spent half the battle swimming in a test tube while we did all the work…" Squall began, his eyes sparkling,

"WHAT? Seriously, Sefie? THAT'S what you were doing?" Irvine gasped, eyes wide, "Might as well take a vacation in the middle of a mission."

"HEY!" Selphie shrieked indignantly.

Squall dragged her out of the room before her cries of dismay could wake the sleeping SeeDs. He could hear Irvine's faint chuckling as they walked away and felt more relief that the cowboy truly didn't seem to mind Selphie's new attachment. In truth, Irvine had too much on his mind to think about Selphie and Squall. He was worried about Quistis.

In the silence of the quarters Irvine hefted himself to his feet and limped over to Trepe. He sighed quietly and gently smoothed her hair away from her face. Her eyes opened slowly and he jerked his hand back as if burned.

"Ir…Irvine?" She asked weakly, blinking her crystalline blue eyes sleepily,

"Shh, sweetie, you need to rest," He said softly, daring to stroke her hair once more,

'What… happened?" She asked, tilting her head into his hand and closing her eyes,

"Bril's dead, Malach is in custody, you and Rin got beat up a bit, but everything is okay," He soothed,

"Heard you.. in the room…"

"Eh?" Irvine looked at her in confusion,

"With Bril. Said I was strong…" Quistis' lips curved into a smile, "Said I wouldn't like.. being a test subject…"

Irvine flushed red, "Erm, well. Y'know."

"You killed him…? Bril…?" Quistis asked sleepily,

"Yeah." Irvine replied heavily, still hardly able to believe himself.

"Hero." Quistis smiled again, already falling asleep again, "Thank you."

Irvine held his breath and then dropped a kiss on her forehead, the lightest brushing of lips he could manage. When he straightened up again she was asleep but a smile hovered on her lips and her cheeks were faintly blushed. He returned to his chair in the corner and for the first time in a long time, dared to hope.

OoO


End file.
